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Eddy Merckx
Origins

Eddy Merckx was one of three children born to a couple who operated a grocery store in the middle-class neighborhood of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe. Her brother and sister are twins. The family moved to the suburbs when he was young. He said:

I had a wonderful childhood. I had loving parents and very sensitive. We were not rich, but my younger brother and sister ... and I never lacked anything. My father was a man of great character and my mother very warm and friendly. Both of them have been wonderful examples for me. Like everyone, I am a mixture of both of them. My determination and willingness to work hard came from my father. He worked tirelessly to build his grocery store. He was strict disciplinarian, but he was also a philosopher. I kept some of his words in my head for my entire life. My mother, I get my softer side. An example of this is that I often have trouble saying no to people. They may not want, but people can use up if you let them.

He gained his first racing bike, second hand when he was eight. His hero is Stan Ocker, who died in a fall on the road to Antwerp in 1956.

"[He was my hero] because of the Tour de France. Ocker won stages in it, has won the green jersey twice, finished second twice. He was always in the news for the Tour de France and the Tour was everything to me. race. I did not even know much about the classics because they were held Sunday, and that day we used to visit my grandmother on her farm in-Meensel Kiezegem, where I was born. "

Merckx said:

"I hated school, I loved doing all sports, but I hated being inside. I left as soon as I could. It has caused friction at home, especially with my father. But it is typical of him that he supported my decision, especially when he saw that I liked something I had chosen the bike, and doing well at it. "

Racing career

Early Career

Merckx rode his first race in Laeken, 16 July 1961, the club's riding Kerkhoek Evere Sports. He drove 12 races before winning his first, Petit-Enghien, on 1 October 1961. The French magazine, Vlo said:

Eddy Merckx was a spoiled child of the postwar generation. Very spoiled, actually. To see this, just look at the pictures of his youth: Eddy dressed as a boy page, like a wounded soldier (his sister played the role of the nurse) as a cowboy, family Merckx on holiday for winter sports, Eddy and his father Plymouth car. So many memories of a happy childhood far, very far from those of Van Looy and Coppi. It has often been criticized, but was it his fault if God has given so mucha His victory in Halle [one year after his first victory], he began to live the life of an appropriate professional. Flicien Vervaecke an excellent rider in the 1930s, the king of the mountains in France to Tours in 1935 and 1937, second Gino Bartali in 1938, led to the track every Tuesday at Schaerbeek. Then Guillaume Michiels, another celebrity has resumed.

Merckx moved from youth to senior amateur class two months earlier. At that time, riders had to wait for their 18th birthday. Merckx said:

"I was winning races, but it was not easy. I have not been dominant at the time something. "

Patrick Sercu rode with him in new entrants and junior races on the track at the Sports Palace in Brussels. Merckx could not beat him on the track but Sercu said that when he saw Merckx on the road he thought he was looking at a future winner of the Tour de France.

Olympics and world championships

In 1964, he traveled the road race at the Summer Olympics of 1964 and finished 12th. [N 1] In the same year he became world amateur champion in Sallanches, France. He said that his victory was marred by the long list of riders who had won the amateur championship and then do nothing. Merckx.