Once-in-a-Lifetime: Ride with Merckx
Granfondo Cycling Tours has just created a Tuscany tour that feature a full day of riding with the legendary Eddy Merckx, an icon of cycling on a par with Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan or Pelé.
Known as “the cannibal” because of his merciless competitive spirit, Merckx reigned in cycling over a 13-year professional career. In that time, he entered 1582 races and won 525 of them. Remarkably, he won an unheard of 35.5% of the races he entered.
From 1961 to 1977, he had no equal. Even today, no one else has a record of wins like this:
5 Tours de France
5 Tours of Italy
4 World Championships
1 Tour os Spain
2 Tours of Belgium
2 Tours of Lombardia
1 Tour of Switzerland
7 Milan-San Remo Classics
5 Liege-Bastogne-Liege
3 Paris-Roubaix
3 Wallionia Races
32 International Classics
17 six-day trials
He is one of only four cyclists who have won all three of the Grand Tours – the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. And one of only who have won the Triple Crown of Cycling (Tour, Giro, and the World Cycling Championship) in the same year.
Granfondo managed to persuade Merckx to spend a day of their eight-day tour from Florence to Rome, riding on the roads he raced 5 times when he won the Giro d’Italia.
This year, the tour runs from May 13-20. It is expected to sell out fast. If you’re up for 40-70 miles a day, a ride with Merckx and spectacular Italian scenery, check it out sooner than later at Granfondo Cycling Tours. They may not talk Merckx into it next year.