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Why is it that under the trivia section, it says that Merckxx had a victory rate of greater than 1/3 (33%) when 1/3 of 1582 is 527 1/3 while Merckx won a total of 525 races.
According to the article, "Merckx began dating Claudine Acou in April 1965", and also, "On December 5, 1967 Merckx married Acou after four years of dating." April 1965 to December 1967 is not a period of four years. Neb-Maat-Re (talk) 22:35, 27 July 2015 (UTC)
Is he Flemish or Walloon? What's his mother tongue?
The question has not been fully answered. What language did he speak with his parents? Were they French or Dutch speaking? Did he go to French or Dutch school? The article doesn't inform us at all. And with his children he speaks French, doesn't he? 195.218.15.86 01:47, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Hi, in case you are still wondering I am pretty sure he was Flemish as my mum told me she taught his wife English (and she's Flemish). But this is just a thought, I wouldn't trust it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oblomov99 (talk • contribs) 20:18, 25 October 2020 (UTC)
Eddy Merckx is the greatest cyclist ever. Even Lance Armstrong states this himself.
"is considered by many to be the greatest cyclist of the 20th Century" really is quite an understatement.
Out of curosity, how much beyond Lance Armstrong are his results? 66.68.106.103 05:28, 12 May 2005 (UTC)
Armstrong dominates the tour. Merxkx dominated everything.
The above comments clearly confuse 20th & 21st century ;-)
Note: This century just began, "greatest cyclist of the 20th Century" is more valuable than
6-7 times Tour de France winner in the early years of the 21st century.
Bestowing the title of greatest ever is not a function of wikipedia. Merckx has repeatedly stated that comparisons between him and Lance are a waste of time, the times and the races were different then. If Merckx get's an award for greatest cycler of all time then that data belongs in wikipedia. Otherwise present the actual data, and let people come to that conclusion themselves.
--63.229.127.222 16:02, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
Explain to me exactly why it is that you can't compare because the 'times and races were different then'. L'Equipe in an effort to even out possible differences between contemporary racing and racing in Merckx' time concluded that only Bernard Hinault came close to Merckx' performance. As for the Tour de France, Merckx was advised by the organizing body not to participate in 1973, this when the cyclist was at the peak of his powers. After all, I never hear people say that you cannot possibly compare contemporary fighting and boxing during Mohammed Ali's career. Or is he declared 'the greatest' simply because he says he is?
Portici 22:15, 20 October 2006 (UTC) Portici
The only arguments that stand against Merckx being greatest ever are arguments that you can not pick a greatest ever. But in this case the gap is so huge that I think you can. Most Grand Tour wins. Most 5 monument wins (19 vrs. 11 for next closest). Fold in Worlds with 5 monuments and you get 22 vrs 11. Total the Grand Tours, 5 monuments and worlds wins and only Coppi and Hinault even reach the mark of having half of what Eddy does. I don't see how anyone can dispute that the top 2 tours are the Tour and Giro and that the top 2 single day races are the Worlds and Paris Roubaix. As of 1975 Merckx was tied for most wins in ALL 4 of these. Today he is tied for most wins for 2 and second most wins for the other 2. Only 3 other riders have even won all 4 races once.
```` Keith99
More about the gratest ever: Most days in yellow jersey (96), most monument wins, most tour de France stage victories, only rider who ever who could combine polka dot jersey, yellow jersey and green jersey in Tour De France (I think two times), most Milan-sanremo wins (seven!), ... . One of the only riders who won the three ground tours (tour de France, Giro, Vuelta), most grand tour wins (11!), ... I could still continue a little bit like that but let also not forget the way he won. He won with enourmous time gaps (various >100km attacks). He has been awarded the combatinveness award two times in de TDF (normal TDF winners just get some lead and then defend it), all year round (not specializing in one race, and doing some other races to prepare). He won track races, road races and also one cyclocross. He also had the world time record. It botters me a little bit that in all these comparisions everybody focusses too much on the TDF. If you would make the article bigger reocrds in cycling with more categories (most times won Ronde Van Vlaanderen, most times won Paris Roubaix, most races won, most days in this and this jersey, ... He would end in top three with in most of the categories. Merckx just won everything. Merckx only compares with Mohamed Ali, Pele, ... . I am really sure he was the gratest ever, please just check all the other articles about the cycling races, not just TDF 84.195.182.246 (talk) 16:59, 23 July 2010 (UTC)
Just a note that this talk page is to discuss the article as an encyclopedic entry, not for discussing Eddy Merckx as a person/athlete. Julius.kusuma 15:08, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
The introduction part of the article is becoming bloated as contributors add information to it without seeing how it can be integrated to later parts of the article. Would be great if somebody can collate all the information and re-sectionalize the article. Thanks. Julius.kusuma 12:15, 16 October 2005 (UTC)
Surely mistakes need to be corrected in Wikipedia, and duplicate sections should be removed? I don't want this to become an edit war at all, but when changes are reverted, an explanation would be nice? Looking forward to it...
81.188.79.116 19:25, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
Well, I had a go at a cleanup operation for this article about my fellow countryman. Most information is still there, just rearranged and duplicates removed. Added some more significant info. I didn't systematically check stats or results though, just mostly kept the whole bunch. I hope it looks better now... 81.188.79.35 23:40, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
is considered by many to be the greatest cyclist of all-time (except for Lance Armstrong),
This really was an unnecessary addition, and Lance is mentioned later in the article. The original sentence could be read as "some consider Merckx the greatest of all time, some consider somebody else the greatest of all time". Adding Armstrong here doesn't change that.
I will probably add a small (balanced) paragraph about "greatest of all time or not" one of these days212.153.56.254 09:50, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
How is his last name correctly pronounced?
Like in "sex" => "mex" => "merx"
I wish I knew phonetics...--JH-man 20:05, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
The text of the copyright tag includes the following words:
Note: It is not acceptable to use images with this tag in the article of the person or persons depicted on the cover, unless used directly in connection with the publication of this image.
In other words, using a mag showing Merckx to illustrate this article isn't justifiable unless the publication of said mag is the point being discussed, not its subject. 86.132.138.151 03:04, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
According to this interview with Merckx:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2005/interviews/?id=eddy_merckx05
Merckx "only" had 445 professional wins. I think the total of 525x professional wins isn't accurate. If you disagree please provide sources.
CN: You had an incredible career, with 445 wins.
EM: As a professional, yes. I had about 100 victories as an amateur. Also, on the track, 17 six days and various championships.
--Meekrob 00:14, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
well, you (Meekrob) deleted quite some stuff I added, but I can live with most of it. However, a couple of things:
This is unfortunately no longer correct:
Hour record: 49.432 km, set in 1972.
Chris Boardman and Ondrej Sosenka have since beaten this record...
If I am mistaken and this is just all the records he set at that time, then please delete this. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.175.84.17 (talk) 23:35, 3 March 2007 (UTC).
Image:Merckx cover.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 22:19, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
Image:Merckx cover.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot 05:15, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
Image:Merckx cover.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot 04:09, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
I restored the previous wording because there's nothing wrong with it IMO.
Merckx's stats are so overwhelmingly dominant (check out a ranking like http://www.kolarstwo-szosowe.gda.pl/Ranking_2005.html ) that it would not even be outright unreasonable to simply declare him the greatest of all time.
The only reason why that would not be a good idea after all, is that one would be comparing different eras with different opponents, different pressures, different scope of the sport etc. That's why the words "regarded as" are being used instead of the bolder "is".
fact: Merckx is one of the greatest and most successful cyclists of all time.
reputation: Merckx is regarded as the greatest and most successful cyclists of all time. JH-man (talk) 09:04, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
There is a lot of information on Eddy Merckx to be found. Eddy Merckx is a legend. If any page in the WikiProject Cycling can be made a featured article, it is the Eddy Merckx article. Currently, it's only B-class. Can we start try to get it to be a Good Article, or an A-class article? Currently the wikiproject has no A-class articles... --EdgeNavidad (talk) 07:27, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
I stumbled upon a journal article that ranks Merckx second best cyclist in the TdF after Hinault, although by a very small margin.
((cite journal))
: Unknown parameter |coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help); line feed character in |title=
at position 19 (help)Unfortunately, I currently don't have the inspiration to put it in the article...--EdgeNavidad (talk) 12:44, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
For the discussion on the move request, please see Talk:Eddy Merckx (disambiguation).--Kotniski (talk) 06:11, 26 August 2008 (UTC)
I've removed the entry for the 1973 Tour because Merckx didn't ride. I could write something about his racing that year but not under the TdeF heading. And since we haven't featured any other year, why 1973? A conundrum. Still, it's explained under 1972 that he didn't ride, and why. Les woodland (talk) 05:37, 19 December 2008 (UTC)les woodland
I've always thought of a nickname as a monnicker which someone might use to your face or to others on seeing you go by. I can imagine one rider pointing out Merckx and saying "The Cannibal's here, then." But I can't imagine anyone saying, "Did you sleep well, Einstein-on-Wheels?" References to riders as the Giant or Einstein aren't nicknames, surely, but references of praise. That was why I deleted all but "Cannibal" a while back. People know who The Cannibal was. It was a widespread alternative name and therefore pretty much a nickname. But "Einstein-on-Wheels"? No, I don't think so. Do you? Les woodland (talk) 07:40, 29 December 2008 (UTC)les woodland
Am I the only one who thinks the latest big rework of this article introduced way too many quotes? I appreciate the effort that was put in, but Eddy was a bicycle racer, not a philosopher or great intellectual. All the "XXX said:" repetitions are bad for the overal style as well. The information not necessarilly needs to be removed, but some of the information in the quotes could be worked into the article differently. This would also improve the layout IMO. JH-man (talk) 10:48, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
There are only 43! (that's 1 better than than the answer to the universe)
— Autodidactyl, 2009.
I beleive he also rode for the Falcon Cycles team, but not sure what years - possibly 1976, 1977? Anyone have further info? I lived adjacent to the Elswick Hopper factory in Barton-Upon-Humber, and my wife worked there in the 1970s. I seem to remember they had a cycle range named after him too.--86.130.30.122 (talk) 23:05, 24 January 2011 (UTC)
The article reads "Merckx was earning 125,000 Belgian francs a year when he won the championship (approx €2,000 at 2008 values)." - I wonder if this is a correct conversion as the euro was introduced at 1/40.3399 against the franc, which would mean that BEF 125,000 were worth €3100 in 2001 already, and that's not even considering inflation since 1967. --Hooiwind (talk) 13:19, 25 May 2013 (UTC)
Is this him? 1:47 minutes in the film [1]?.Tushyk (talk) 09:40, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
The Wikipedia article "list of doping cases in cycling" currently provides some information on Merckx. Why does this article exclude this information? It cannot be because of ignorance. AnnaComnemna (talk) 17:20, 28 November 2014 (UTC)
I agree it should be mentioned, perhaps a note should be added in the lead, just like the Armstrong article?Dingowasher (talk) 20:45, 26 April 2015 (UTC)
GA toolbox |
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Reviewing |
Reviewer: Relentlessly (talk · contribs) 11:03, 21 August 2015 (UTC)
I'll review this. Relentlessly (talk) 11:03, 21 August 2015 (UTC)
Specific points:
Other points:
Overall this looks like a good article, with a certain amount of work to do on it. I did a little copyediting as I was reviewing The biggest improvement you could make (not necessary for GA, though, I think) would be to add some extra narrative structure (perhaps as little as subheadings) to help the reader understand the context of the races. But the tweaks above will be enough for GA. On hold . Relentlessly (talk) 09:08, 27 August 2015 (UTC)
The current intro para is terrible. The introduction para should explain why Merckx is important, not give minor details like town of birth and sports played as a child! Further, it should articulate more information about the subject than one fact taken out of context -- why is it impressive that he's won five tours? Has anyone else won five? Has he won anything other than the Tour?
I would strongly suggest that the intro should be rewritten to give a short and clear summary of Merckx's palmares and the extent to which these achievements represent a huge and striking dominance of the sport in his era and his claim to be the greatest ever.
I think the Don Bradman intro para is a good example of this:
"Sir Donald George "Don" Bradman, AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time.[2] Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is often cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.[3]"
A similar para here might be:
"Édouard Louis Joseph, baron Merckx (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɛrks]) (born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is widely seen as the greatest and most successful rider in the history of cycling. His unparalleled palmarès include a peerless eleven Grand Tours (five Tours of France, five Tours of Italy, and a Tour of Spain), all five Monuments, three World Road Race Championships, the Hour Record, every major one-day race apart from Paris-Tours, and extensive victories on the track."
It would be more appropriate to put details like his place of birth, early sports, and first win etc in a subsequent para dealing with his early life. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.56.3.99 (talk) 23:55, 12 February 2017 (UTC)
Hi, I have placed this note a week ago following my edit being reverted and have not seen any response from the Wikipedian who reverted my edit. I think etiquette is that some response is in order, no?
47.72.2.140 (talk) 00:21, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
I agree with the push to revise the first paragraph. I agree the first para should give more information as to his accomplishments. His childhood and early career seems better suited for the second paragraph instead of the first. CUA 27 (talk) 09:39, 1 August 2017 (UTC)
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I went looking for a source which will back up the claim no one who understands cycling would deny that Merckx would be the Jordan Gretzky Brady of his sport but all I can find is forum discussions where this analogy is made several times..... Forums aren't reference citation sources so is there any other way to cite this being as not many American sports reporters have made this exact comparison.... At least none that pop up on google search? Raleigh80Z90Faema69 (talk) 03:22, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
Dear Raleigh80Z90Faema69,
"...
All articles must strive for verifiable accuracy, citing reliable, authoritative sources, especially when the topic is controversial or is about a living person. Editors' personal experiences, interpretations, or opinions do not belong on Wikipedia.
..."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars
Da Vinci Nanjing (talk) 15:53, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
Yes of this I am aware.... And as I mentioned this statement about Merckx is mentioned in about 1000 blogs and forums but I can't find an American news article about it because no American sports journalists have written articles comparing Merckx to Jordan, Brady or Gretzky, even though every single human being who has even the slightest knowledge of this sport on even the most minimal scale knows that it is a certainty that the one cyclist to represent his sport as the Brady, Jordan, Gretzky greatest of all time it would be Eddy Merckx. Besides as I also stated I only included it to give any potential new American fans a realistic idea as to who Eddy Merckx is to the sport of cycling, which is a bit foolishly optimistic on my part as no Americans are coming to this sport in large numbers until another Greg LeMond comes along and that is about as likely as a Belgian rider winning the Tour de France Raleigh80Z90Faema69 (talk) 16:54, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
Hi, it's a bit silly to show a picture of the Tre Cime mountains, as if the road goes up there, rather than ending as it does about 600 vertical metres lower! I know cyclists refer to cols (passes) as peaks but to suggest "rode solo to the stage finish atop the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (pictured)", when the picture doesn't show the road is a bit much. If I say I climbed to the top of something, I don't mean I got to the car park at the bottom of it. Eddie was good but I don't think he scaled hundreds of metres of vertical rock with his bike held between his teeth. A photo of the road or just change the text to "rode solo to the stage finish below the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (pictured)" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oblomov99 (talk • contribs) 21:04, 25 October 2020 (UTC)