A victorious Merckx greets
the crowds at the Cipale
velodrome in Paris.
He’d turned professional in
1965 at the age of 20, and
won his first Monument,
Milan-San Remo just a year
later. In 1967, he was world
champion and in 1968 he
claimed his first Grand Tour,
the Giro d’Italia.
HOW A
CANNIBAL
WAS BORN
In 1969, Eddy Merckx won the first of
his five Tour de France crowns, and in
an utterly convincing fashion! It earned
him a nickname that further boosted his
growing renown. BY JEAN DAMIEN LESAY
162 | TO U R
D E F RA N C E 2019
“
our Belgian
doesn’t even
leave you any
crumbs. He’s a
real cannibal.” The words,
uttered with the innocence
of youth, were those of
the daughter of Christian
Raymond, a rider on the
Peugeot team, who was
visiting her father during the
1969 Tour de France. July
was drawing to a close and
all suspense had gone. On
his first Tour appearance,
Eddy Merckx had crushed
everyone. The peloton was a
little stunned…
It really should have been
more prepared for the
onslaught. Although he
was a Tour rookie in 1969,
Merckx was hardly unknown.
He had already won almost
everything there was to win.
Y
In 1969, after winning Paris-
Nice, he was on the verge of
claiming his second Giro in a
row when he tested positive
in an anti-doping control.
He protested his innocence
and ended up being cleared
by the International Cycling
Union. As a result, on 28
June 1969, Merckx was
hungry for glory and thirsty
for revenge when he lined up
for his first Tour de France.
The peloton should definitely
have been wary...
Merckx’s Faema team had
won the draw to start first
in the individual time trial in
Roubaix. A man in a hurry,
Merckx chose to go off first
– to allow himself more time
to rest. He learned about his
second place finish behind
German prologue specialist
Rudi Altig in the calm of his
hotel room. His main rivals
– Felice Gimondi, Raymond
Poulidor, Luis Ocaña and
defending champion Jan
Janssen – were already
distanced.
The next day, destiny
smiled on the Belgian
champion. The team time
trial that comprised the day’s
second half-stage was held
in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre,
the Brussels suburb where
Merckx had spent part of his
childhood. His Faema team
won, and it was on home turf
that the young Eddy donned
the first of his 111 yellow
jerseys.
On the second stage,
Merckx showed his true face,
that of the cannibal. Over the
course of 181km, he stayed
at the front in order to restore
Thirsty for revenge