http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,364713,00.html
Merckx interview from before the Tour started. Good stuff.
Merckx interview from before the Tour started. Good stuff.
The Cannibal on Armstrong, Ullrich, and others, before the Tour
- Thread starter OGRipper
- Start date
excellent read 
SPIEGEL: Ullrich simply doesn't want to sacrifice his entire year for bicycle racing. Can't you understand that?
Merckx: No, not in the least. One can really only be a serious athlete for ten years. One should possess enough discipline to control one's self during that period. Of course there is more to life than bicycle racing, and I didn't live like a priest either. I also blew off steam every now and then -- but not for an entire month at a time. I also had a tendency to put on weight very quickly. When I climbed on the scale in the winter and noticed that I had put on a couple of kilos, I would go nuts.
Merckx: No, not in the least. One can really only be a serious athlete for ten years. One should possess enough discipline to control one's self during that period. Of course there is more to life than bicycle racing, and I didn't live like a priest either. I also blew off steam every now and then -- but not for an entire month at a time. I also had a tendency to put on weight very quickly. When I climbed on the scale in the winter and noticed that I had put on a couple of kilos, I would go nuts.
Articulate, and candid. I really liked this exchange:Toshi said:
SPIEGEL: Armstrong is the most successful Tour de France racer of all time, but is he the best cyclist of all time?
Merckx: You mean, is he better than I was? I don't like such comparisons -- too much has changed in bicycle racing. I regret the fact that the great champions like Armstrong and Ullrich only place value in the Tour de France anymore. If everyone thought like that, then we would only have to organize one bicycle race a year. My career didn't only consist of the Tour de France. I wanted to win as many bicycle races as I could. I was maybe the best rider during my time just as Lance is the best rider of his. It doesn't go any further than that.
Does anyone know the details of Merckx being attacked by a fan at the tour?
i think it was burlyshirley, out of his mind on absinthe and afghani hash.Mackie said:
In 1975 in Merckx's bid to win a 6th tour and break Anquetil's record, a fan punched him on the last climb of Stage 14. I've heard the location of the punch to either be in the stomach or kidneys and the resulting injuries as either broken ribs or a bruised kidney or both. Either way he finished the stage but just barely. He went on to finish the tour but the injuries and the medication to fight the pain led to more problems a few days later when he crashed and further injured himself (supposedly a fractured cheek bone). I had read in another interview where Merckx said that he used to get slapped (not punched) all the time and that his back would be covered with hand prints after a climbing stage.
There is some speculation that Merckx milked the injury to cover relatively bad form (mainly French speculation). He had skipped the Giro and hadn't been that much of a factor in the Spring races. However, he had already won two stages of the '75 Tour and held the yellow jersey for several days. He ended up second in that tour. He competed the next year but was in short crappy.
There is some speculation that Merckx milked the injury to cover relatively bad form (mainly French speculation). He had skipped the Giro and hadn't been that much of a factor in the Spring races. However, he had already won two stages of the '75 Tour and held the yellow jersey for several days. He ended up second in that tour. He competed the next year but was in short crappy.
That is a shame when a fan feels the need to punch a cyclist in order to take him out of the race.
In one of the races, Merckx was with his team on the front. He told them to pick up the pace so they could thin out the field. They weren't too keen on it and ignored him. So he attacked his teammates and the field. He won the stage, minutes ahead of the rest. When he got to the finish line he pulled out a lounge chair and wine and waved to his team as they passed by.
His teammates never did that again.
His teammates never did that again.