Eddy Merckx is a champion whose achievements have been so exhaustively chronicled that you wonder what is left to say.
A new book, Merckx 525, however, claims two firsts. It is the first biography to be authorized by the Cannibal, and contains photographs the great Belgian claims never to have seen previously.
The 525 of the title refers to Merckx’ incomparable tally of victories. He is billed by the book as the ‘most dominant athlete of the 20th century’ and his palmares makes a compelling case for such an epithet.
He won each of cycling’s Grand Tours (five times each in the case of the Tour and the Giro), all of the Monument Classics (seven times in the case of Milan-San Remo), the world road race championship three times, and set a world hour record. Surprisingly, he was champion of Belgium just once.
The ‘recently discovered’ photographs that are the centerpiece of this book have not been seen outside of Belgium, Italy, and France, publishers, VeloPress, claim. Some have been newly restored from private collections, some submitted by the Merckx family, others taken from European newspaper archives.
Merckx himself describes the book as “a unique collection of exclusive photographs, including some that even I had not seen before. It is the only work authorized by me and the first truly complete record of my accomplishments.”
The hardback tome contains 224 pages and 126 colour photographs. Merckx 525 costs £42. Check back soon for full review.
To order the book, visit Cordee.
