Title

Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike

William Fotheringham

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Published by Vintage Digital, part of Vintage Publishing

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Format: ebook

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Details

EAN: 9781409018957
Published: 22 Mar 2012

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About the book

Synopsis

What makes a man the greatest of all time?

Eddy Merckx is to cycling what Muhammad Ali is to boxing or Pelé to football: quite simply, the best there has ever been. Merckx was a machine. It wasn't just the number of victories (445); it was his remorseless domination that created the legend. He didn't just beat his opponents, he crushed them.

But his triumphs only tell half a story that includes horrific injury, a doping controversy and tragedy. He was nicknamed 'The Cannibal' for his insatiable appetite for victory, but the moniker did scant justice to a man who was handsome, sensitive and surprisingly anxious. Britain's leading cycling writer, William Fotheringham, goes back to speak to those who were there at the time and those who knew Merckx best to find out what made Eddy Merckx so invincible.

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What the critics say

Merckx - a natural champion who regularly rode himself and others into agony and glory - is a fine choice for a writer of Fotheringham's skill and cycling knowledge... A fascinating, often bleak portrait of remarkable athlete and an unnerving man.
- Sunday Times

A fine portrait of obsession
- Financial Times

Remarkable and impressive … everything you want to know about Merckx and more.
- Cycling Weekly

The Cantona or Muhammad Ali of cycling, this Belgian’s story is amazing – and it’s told by one of the greatest cycling reporters around... Top Notch
- Loaded

The full unvarnished of one man’s heaven, and hell, on wheels.
- i, Independent

The extraordinary and definitive story of a man whose fear of failure would drive him to the highest pinnacles, before ultimately destroying him.
- Living North

The Muhammad Ali of cycling.
- TNT Magazine

Packed with stories of controversies, falls, secret deals and bitter recriminations.
- Times Literary Supplement

Scrupulously researched.
- Guardian

By this author

About the Author

William Fotheringham writes for the Guardian and Observer on cycling and rugby. A racing cyclist and launch editor of procycling and Cycle Sport magazines, he has reported on over twenty Tours de France. He is the critically lauded author of Fallen Angel, Roule Britannia, and Put Me Back on My Bike, which Vélo magazine called 'The best cycling biography ever written.