Who is the best of the best?
This is difficult. For a start, women don’t have the history of big races men do, so comparing between generations is impossible. It’s difficult enough in men’s cycling because the sport has changed. Up until the 1990s, top riders rode everything, and great riders of yesteryear often won Classics and Grand Tours in the same season. Nowadays everybody is a specialist – Grand Tours or Classics, and even Classics subdivide into cobbled or hilly.
But here goes; my choice for the greatest is – highly predictable, I know – Eddy Merckx. The Belgian, born in 1945, started out good and was a fast responder. By 1969, he was a phenomenon, only 24 years old and winning his first Tour de France by almost 18 minutes, having already won six Monuments, an elite World Road Race title, and the Giro d’italia. Merckx went on to have the best career ever in terms of victories, but it could have been better, and that’s why I picked him. I’ve had this confirmed many times by those who raced against him; we only saw Eddy Merckx at full strength in 1969, when he seemed to win at will. The man himself confirms it: “I crashed during a post-tour de France track meeting in 1969 and damaged my back. Before then, I didn’t understand what people meant when they talked about suffering on a bike. All I did was press harder on the pedals and I won. After the crash, I was never as strong again, and I suffered every day on my bike.”
Merckx had it all: amazing physiology, super strength and robust health. He had the mental tools a champion needs too, and in mega doses. He was dedicated, analytical, driven and had an absolute need to win. He was the perfect bike racer.