‘I’m very impressed with what Armstrong is doing’

Eddy Merckx is simply the greatest rider of all time. Nicknamed The Cannibal for his insatiable appetite for victories, he won virtually every important race, many of them several times.

Born on June 17, 1945, Merckx rode for 13 seasons, but totally dominated cycling for 10 years like no one else has before or since.

The Belgian won the Amateur World Championship Road Race in 1964 and then turned pro in 1965.His first major victory as a pro racer came in the 1966 Milan-San Remo. He was just 20. His last major victory was in the same event 10 years later.

At his peak, from 1969 through 1975, Merckx won an astounding 35% of the races he entered. He won the Tour de France five times, the Giro d'Italia five times, and the Vuelta a Espana once for a total of 11 Grand Tour victories.

He won each of cycling’s five monuments (Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Tour of Lombardy) more than twice, for a record of 19 victories in these races.

His record of 525 victories, including 445 as a professional, is untouchable. He is the only rider to have won all the classifications (overall, mountains, and points jerseys) in a single year at the Tour de France (1969) and the Giro d’Italia (1968).

He won the Tour-Giro double in 1970, 1972, and 1974. He won the Giro d'Italia-Vuelta a Espana double in 1973.

He has 34 Tour de France stage wins (a record), including six stages in 1969 and 1972, and eight in 1970 and 1974. In 1974, he won the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the World Championship Road Race to achieve the cycling ‘Triple Crown’. That feat has been repeated only one other time: by Stephen Roche in 1987.

Merckx retired on May 17, 1978, at the age of 32. In Mumbai for a day in connection with the Tour de Mumbai, to be held on February 21 at the Bandra Reclamation, the cyclist nonpareil spoke to DNA in an exclusive interview. Excerpts:

Which was the most memorable moment of your career?
Winning the Tour de France for the first time in 1969 was the most memorable. First, it was after 30 years that a Belgian cyclist had won the Tour. Secondly, ever since I started cycling I had dreamt of donning the yellow jersey at the end of the Tour in Paris.

Soon after winning the 1969 Tour, you had a horrific crash. How difficult was it to make a comeback?
Yeah, it was horrific. I almost lost my life. My trainer died in the accident. I had a gashed head, a broken vertebra, and a twisted pelvis. It was never the same after the injury. Training became harder. Climbs were not that easy.

When I won my first Tour, the second-placed rider was some 18 minutes behind. When I won it again the next year, the gap was down to 11 minutes. So, you see, it was difficult. I really worked hard and overcame mental barriers to achieve those records.

How difficult was it to quit the sport, which you had dominated for such a long time?
It wasn’t that difficult. I had raced a lot. I don’t remember the year, but I took part in close to 195 races in one year. As a cyclist I always raced to win. But later on it became really hard for me, not physically but mentally, to keep up the same tempo. Mentally the pressure was too high, and when you feel the training become hard and also winning the races, it is time to call it quits.

Also in those days we didn’t earn that much as today’s professionals do. Around that time life was not only about racing. We had to look after the family, so I started my own bicycle factory.

How has the sport changed since your days as a competitive cyclist?
Most of the big name riders focus on the Tour. I agree it is the most important event, but cycling is not only about the Tour. If everybody thinks like Armstrong, there will be only one race [in the calendar]. The sport will benefit when big name riders start races. Around my time we use to compete all round the year.

Do your think Lance Armstrong can win his eighth Tour de France?
It will not be easy for Armstrong to win the Tour now. But it’s not impossible as well. At this point, Contador is the most complete rider. I hope Lance can win, but it is not easy to win the Tour with so many other good riders around. When you make a comeback, it is totally different from when you are racing regularly. I’m very impressed with what he is doing.

Do you think UCI (the International Cycling Federation) has done enough to arrest the spurt of doping incidents, which have dented cycling’s image over the years?
Yeah, I think so. But it's not only cycling which has suffered because of dope cheats. Each and every sport has had a negative effect on it because of such incidents. I think no other federation does so much dope testing as the cycling federation. UCI has done brilliant work towards ridding the sport of it [the scourge of drugs]. If you try to cheat they will the catch you.

UCI recently started the pro-tour to popularise the sport? Do you think it will help cycling?
Yeah, it will. But there are too many races. And there is no security that the best in the business will start most of the races on the pro-tour. The teams may but not the top cyclists. It's like you have 18 Grand Prix and drivers are allowed to skip some of them.

Is this your first visit to India?
This is my second visit. I came to India some 15 years ago. I heard about Manali and Leh and landed with my bike over there. It was a 10-day gruelling ride. And I must say climbs in Leh were much more difficult than those at the Tour or Giro d’Italia.