William Leith18 April 2013
Before Bradley Wiggins there was Lance Armstrong. Before Armstrong there was Eddy Merckx — possibly the greatest ever competitive cyclist. Competitive being the key word. Merckx, a Belgian, raced in a new way — he relentlessly attacked the opposition and knew exactly what to do to tire the other cyclists. He was a true obsessive. His wife, Claudine, worried about his silences. Was he grumpy? In fact, he was thinking about the last race, and the next race. He was at his peak in the late Sixties and early Seventies. His body began to lose its power when he was about 30. There was a famous doping scandal. He might have been set up.
