Road cycling numbers
Featuring Eddy Merckx and Lance Armstrong
We’ve looked at the impressive database of the International Cycling Union (UCI) to pick some data about our all-time and current cycling greats.
Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx: born 17th of June 1945 he was better known as Eddy Merckx, and had the nickname of “The Cannibal” because of his appetite for winning. In his best year, Merckx won almost every other race he rode. Merckx won the equivalent of a race a week for six years from 1965 to 1978 when he retired, probably two later than he should have done. The ”Hour Record” (the longest distance cycled in one hour) is one of the most prestigous records in cycling to hold, Eddy set this record in 1972 at high altitude in Mexico City, a record of 49.431 km (30.715 mi) that stood for 12 years!
The other records Merckx set:
- Most career victories by a professional cyclist: 525.
- Most victories in one season: 54.
- Most stage victories in the Tour de France: 34.
- Most stage victories in one Tour de France: 8, in 1970 and 1974 (shared with Charles Pélissier in 1930 and Freddy Maertens in 1976).
- Most days with the yellow jersey in the Tour de France: 96.
- The only cyclist to have won the yellow, green and red polka-dotted jersey in the same Tour de France (1969).
- Most victories in classics: 28.
- Most victories of a single classic: 7 (in Milan-Sanremo).
L Armstrong: (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Kazakhstan-based UCI ProTeam Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005.
He is the only individual to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain and Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. He has survived testicular cancer, a tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs, in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. Surviving cancer, Lance had to rebuild his body after serious weight and muscle loss after the aggressive chemotherapy. He came back stronger than before and set out to target winning the Tour de France, which he managed in 1999. Having got into the swing of it he went on to rack up 7 straight wins 1999 – 2005!
Lance retired from cycling at the end of his 2005 Tour de France win, but decided to return to competitive cycling this year to raise awareness of the global cancer burden. VeloNews reported that Armstrong will race for no salary or bonuses, and will post his internally tested blood results online. This last is because of unproved allegations of drug use during his Tour wins.
