‘My fondest memory is definitely the Tour de France in 1969’ – Eddy Merckx features on Power of Sport

Eddy Merckx says the fondest win of his career was winning the Tour de France for the first time in 1969.

The legendary cyclist won the Tour de France five times in his career, but he admits he never thought it would happen for him.

“I dreamed about the Tour de France but I never thought I’d win it,” he told the Power of Sport.

“It made very proud. As a child I was passionate about cycling. My father never took me to see the Tour de France but I listened to it on the radio. I had a little bike and people called me ‘Tour de France’ because I was always riding it.”

In 1969, Merckx arrived at the Giro d’Italia as the defending champion.

After four Stage victories, and with the leader’s pink jersey on his back, he was told he had failed a drugs test. The so-called ‘Savona Affair’ saw Merckx disqualified.

“I was extremely disappointed because it was very unfair,” he said. “Some people had offered me money to promote the Giro d’Italia.

“I refused and two days later they sent me home with nothing. My world collapsed. At that point, I thought that my cycling career was over.”

The sport’s governing body would overturn his suspension, clearing Merckx to race in the Tour de France which he won by almost 18 minutes.

Merckx retired in 1978 but not before he had rewritten the history books.

He added: “Mother nature gave me outstanding natural ability but that doesn’t tell the whole story. You also need to work hard and never take anything for granted.

“There’s a metro station named after me, statues, too. That’s something you don’t ask for. If they felt the need to do that it meant that I had an impressive career as a cyclist.

“Every great victory is a source of joy, but for me, my fondest memory is definitely the Tour de France in 1969, 30 years after a Belgian rider had last won ‘La Grande Boucle’. It was certainly the best win of my career.”

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