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Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal
For 14 years between 1965 and 1978, Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx simply devoured his rivals, their hopes and their careers. His legacy resides as much in the careers he ruined as the 445 victories -- including five Tour de France wins and all the monument races -- he amassed in his own right. So dominant had Merckx become by 1973 that he was ordered to stay away from the Tour for the good of the event.
Stage 17 of the 1969 Tour de France perfectly illustrates his untouchable brilliance. Already wearing the yellow jersey on the col du Tourmalet, the Tour's most famous peak, Merckx powered clear and rode the last 140 kilometres to the finish-line in jaw-dropping solitude, eight minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
Merckx's era has been called cycling's Golden Age. It was full of memorable characters who, at any other time, would all have gone on to become legends. Yet Merckx's phenomenal career overshadowed them all. How did he achieve such incredible success? And how did his rivals really feel about him? Merckx failed drug tests three times in his career -- were they really stitch ups as he claimed? And what of the crash at a track meet in Blois, France that killed Merckx's pacer Fernand Wambst, which Merckx claimed deeply affected him psychologically and physically? Or the attack by a spectator in 1975?
Despite his unique achievements, we know little about the Cannibal beyond his victories. This is the first comprehensive biography of Merckx in English, and finally exposes the truth behind this legendary man.
Stage 17 of the 1969 Tour de France perfectly illustrates his untouchable brilliance. Already wearing the yellow jersey on the col du Tourmalet, the Tour's most famous peak, Merckx powered clear and rode the last 140 kilometres to the finish-line in jaw-dropping solitude, eight minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
Merckx's era has been called cycling's Golden Age. It was full of memorable characters who, at any other time, would all have gone on to become legends. Yet Merckx's phenomenal career overshadowed them all. How did he achieve such incredible success? And how did his rivals really feel about him? Merckx failed drug tests three times in his career -- were they really stitch ups as he claimed? And what of the crash at a track meet in Blois, France that killed Merckx's pacer Fernand Wambst, which Merckx claimed deeply affected him psychologically and physically? Or the attack by a spectator in 1975?
Despite his unique achievements, we know little about the Cannibal beyond his victories. This is the first comprehensive biography of Merckx in English, and finally exposes the truth behind this legendary man.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
44 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Friebe
14 books30 followersDaniel Friebe is one of Britain's leading cycling journalists and a veteran of nine Tours de France. For the last five years Daniel has been the Features Editor of Procycling Magazine. He collaborated with cycling superstar Mark Cavendish on the bestselling Boy Racer - My Journey to Tour de France Record Breaker.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 27, 2021
Not exactly a biography nor, thank the gods, a hagiography, "Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal," does provide a window into the life and cycling career of Merckx. A complex man who did not participate in the writing of this work, Merckx comes across as a driven man with immense talent. So immense he pretty much ruled the professional peloton for five or six years.
Fortunately, Friebe does NOT list all of Merckx's wins, his 'palmarès.' I say, "fortunately," because - for me - doing so would most likely have disrupted the narrative flow. It's hard enough to learn the main "classics" and keep the three major tours straight. Having to track the lesser races, of which there are many, would needlessly distract from the story.
And what a story it is. Merckx, son of a Belgian grocer and his wife, lived in a home and a part of the country where both French and Dutch were spoken. This linguistic divide reflects, in a way, his own divided life - competitive yet supporting, a public figure who didn't like speaking, a dominant cyclist with crippling doubts. And the most successful male rider in the history of competitive cycling.
Friebe's prose occasionally reads like a magic realism novel then turns back to more standard prose. This is a bit disorienting but occurs mostly in the opening chapters of his work. By the middle third we're on solid ground. The author interviewed a number of Merckx's contemporaries, both team mates and competitors, and manages to weave their views into the story of Mercks very effectively.
It seems it is almost impossible to get this close to Eddy and remain neutral. For anyone who follows cycling Merckx is THE cyclist. No one has done as much or won as much as Mercks. Very few have had so great an effect on cycling while they were racing. Many have nicknames but there is but one Cannibal (the origin story for this nom de velo is unexpected).
Despite this tendency to drift toward adoration, Friebe keeps an even keel. He writes of Merckx's strengths and weaknesses, the ambiguity of the extent of his doping (three positive tests over the course of his career are far from ambiguous but 3/700 indicates an overall lack of doping), the enemies he made, the friends he kept. Merckx is far from an easy subject to describe.
While the author does not dwell on the last years of his career he does describe them. He particularly returns to Merckx's own statement, made more than once:
"Don't fear for one second that you'll see me on the decline, served up on a plate to a vengeful peloton, like some shipwrecked, stranded sailor clinging to the buoy of his former glory, At the first signs that I'm weakening, and maybe a bit before, I'll bid farewell . . .." (page 293)
That is NOT what happened. Merckx continued to ride for two years after he started to decline. He made his retirement public on 1978 May 18.
If you enjoy the history of cycling you really have to read about Merckx. This is one work that - if it were the only thing you read about him - would provide a solid understanding of the man and his times.
Fortunately, Friebe does NOT list all of Merckx's wins, his 'palmarès.' I say, "fortunately," because - for me - doing so would most likely have disrupted the narrative flow. It's hard enough to learn the main "classics" and keep the three major tours straight. Having to track the lesser races, of which there are many, would needlessly distract from the story.
And what a story it is. Merckx, son of a Belgian grocer and his wife, lived in a home and a part of the country where both French and Dutch were spoken. This linguistic divide reflects, in a way, his own divided life - competitive yet supporting, a public figure who didn't like speaking, a dominant cyclist with crippling doubts. And the most successful male rider in the history of competitive cycling.
Friebe's prose occasionally reads like a magic realism novel then turns back to more standard prose. This is a bit disorienting but occurs mostly in the opening chapters of his work. By the middle third we're on solid ground. The author interviewed a number of Merckx's contemporaries, both team mates and competitors, and manages to weave their views into the story of Mercks very effectively.
It seems it is almost impossible to get this close to Eddy and remain neutral. For anyone who follows cycling Merckx is THE cyclist. No one has done as much or won as much as Mercks. Very few have had so great an effect on cycling while they were racing. Many have nicknames but there is but one Cannibal (the origin story for this nom de velo is unexpected).
Despite this tendency to drift toward adoration, Friebe keeps an even keel. He writes of Merckx's strengths and weaknesses, the ambiguity of the extent of his doping (three positive tests over the course of his career are far from ambiguous but 3/700 indicates an overall lack of doping), the enemies he made, the friends he kept. Merckx is far from an easy subject to describe.
While the author does not dwell on the last years of his career he does describe them. He particularly returns to Merckx's own statement, made more than once:
"Don't fear for one second that you'll see me on the decline, served up on a plate to a vengeful peloton, like some shipwrecked, stranded sailor clinging to the buoy of his former glory, At the first signs that I'm weakening, and maybe a bit before, I'll bid farewell . . .." (page 293)
That is NOT what happened. Merckx continued to ride for two years after he started to decline. He made his retirement public on 1978 May 18.
If you enjoy the history of cycling you really have to read about Merckx. This is one work that - if it were the only thing you read about him - would provide a solid understanding of the man and his times.
April 9, 2012
As a good summary of the life of the man voted in a number of polls as one of the best sportspeople ever, this is quite good. All the highs and lows are there, and there is an analysis of what drove The Cannibal, and what made him different to those who have gone before and come after him. While Armstrong may be held high in the eyes of many, it must be remember Merckx was succesful in Classics as well as the Grand Tours, whereas Lance just concentrated on the Tour.
Friebe allows for competing analysis from a range of sources, those who competed against Merckx, those who rode with him and those who reported on his career. Of course it helps to know the background to each of Merckx's interactions with those who have been interviewed- obviously some come with more an an agenda and desire to protect their legacies than others, and the author does well to reflect these, without negatively impacting on the validity of their input.
One voice that is missing is Merckx himself who did not want to collaborate with the book.Friebe insists this is actually more beneficial, but there is still a void there that is not filled. While a certain amount of revisionism is to be expected, I do feel that Merckx's absence is most clearly felt as Friebe attempts to deal with the controversies that surround Eddy. This is no hiagoraphy but it would be good to see what how these events are now viewed by the man himself with hindsight-to get this however the reader would need to seek out the other works Merckx did collaborate on.
This is generally well put together, although on a small number of occasions I had to re-read sentences a couple of times to get their meaning-some were open to ambiguity which should have been addressed at the editing stage. Overall though I recommend this as a good summary of Merckx's life though I am looking forward to checking out William Fotherington's Half Man, Half Bike, to see how he deals with Merckx.
Friebe allows for competing analysis from a range of sources, those who competed against Merckx, those who rode with him and those who reported on his career. Of course it helps to know the background to each of Merckx's interactions with those who have been interviewed- obviously some come with more an an agenda and desire to protect their legacies than others, and the author does well to reflect these, without negatively impacting on the validity of their input.
One voice that is missing is Merckx himself who did not want to collaborate with the book.Friebe insists this is actually more beneficial, but there is still a void there that is not filled. While a certain amount of revisionism is to be expected, I do feel that Merckx's absence is most clearly felt as Friebe attempts to deal with the controversies that surround Eddy. This is no hiagoraphy but it would be good to see what how these events are now viewed by the man himself with hindsight-to get this however the reader would need to seek out the other works Merckx did collaborate on.
This is generally well put together, although on a small number of occasions I had to re-read sentences a couple of times to get their meaning-some were open to ambiguity which should have been addressed at the editing stage. Overall though I recommend this as a good summary of Merckx's life though I am looking forward to checking out William Fotherington's Half Man, Half Bike, to see how he deals with Merckx.
December 13, 2021
It's worth a read, but I don't feel that this is one of the better cycling books. I umm-ed and ahh-ed about whether to give it 2 stars or 3 so it's fair to say it's on the border for me. The writing is confusing and, at times, inelegant - I found I was having to read some sentences a few times to understand them. I didn't feel that I had gained significant insight into the subject and the pen pictures of other characters were too numerous and too short for any of them to stick in my mind. Even now (minutes after finishing the book) they are blurring together.
July 8, 2022
A well-concieved biography. I found it a little bit wordy, sometimes suffering from the dullness of a too supreme athlete. Regardless, I think Friebe brings this distant and - for me at least - previously unknown part of cycling history to life, I would definitely recommend it for cycling enthusiasts.
January 15, 2021
In some ways this was a strange book: written almost entirely without the cooperation of its subject. And the very brief interview with EM at the end is anti-climactic. So, the portrait of EM is presented almost entirely through the accounts and anecdotes of the people whom he ‘devoured’. It’s a bit like a collage which the author tries to edit into a coherent narrative - not entirely successfully.
But it’s good. Interesting. There’s a lot of great material in there. Turns out cyclists can be prosaic, and they have a good sense of drama. Through all the endless egos and self absorption there is some clarity and truth. Friebe is also guilty of some occasionally beautiful writing that does not belong in a sports biography. If one is a cyclist, (I am), there is something in this book to inspire even the most average of us. But it’s worth a read, even if you’re not.
But it’s good. Interesting. There’s a lot of great material in there. Turns out cyclists can be prosaic, and they have a good sense of drama. Through all the endless egos and self absorption there is some clarity and truth. Friebe is also guilty of some occasionally beautiful writing that does not belong in a sports biography. If one is a cyclist, (I am), there is something in this book to inspire even the most average of us. But it’s worth a read, even if you’re not.
August 22, 2020
A fair surface reflection of the Eddie from a very long arm’s length, but is really lacking in substantive detail on his thoughts, motivations, training, and tactics. The book makes it seem like all of these things happened to him and merely received most of these experiences, vs. actively planning and building towards specific goals. Suffers from the same issues as many books written by a journalist-lack of focus on a broad book length narrative arch. I don’t feel like I know much about the subject.
December 6, 2023
Quite the page-turner, full of great tales of Merckx's dominance and eventual decline. I'd heard the name a lot and was generally aware of his achievements, of course, but gained a lot more in-depth knowledge here and enjoyed all the anecdotes from peers of his - even if 95% of them boil down to "bloody hell, he just went off from the start!" or "bloody hell, I was under the flamme rouge and then he came past me".
June 6, 2024
This is a good summary of the life of the man often considered one of the best sportspeople ever. All the ups and downs are there, and there is some analysis of what drove him, and what made him different to those who have went before and come after him. One voice that is missing is Merckx himself, who did not want to collaborate with the book.
December 1, 2020
Cartea este conceputa ca un articol dintr un ziar de sport. Nu a fost scrisa in colaborare cu mercks. Este o culegere de legende si povestiri despre celebrul ciclist al anilor 70. Lipsesc perioade de timp din carte si are multe pasaje bazate pe presupuneri
May 27, 2023
It's fantastic to read about a wonderful champion like Eddy Merckx. He was always meant to ride a bike and he was so good at it. This is a great insight into how he won so many races, along with some great stories about other riders of this time. Well worth a read.
October 2, 2017
Zbytočne komplikovaná angličtina, vďaka ktorej sa človek občas stráca v záplave mien a udalostí ... kniha určená pre znalých cyklistickej histórie a fanúšikov tohto športu 😉
May 3, 2018
Three stars is probably generous since the author only spoke with Merckx for ten minutes. Very insightful to the world of the peleton of the 70's
June 9, 2019
A great biography about the greatest cyclist of all time that sheds light on what it must have felt like to be regarded as superhuman but provides enough nuance to make Merckx human
October 26, 2019
Great stuff. The interviews with folks, from stars to bit-players, who experienced the Merckx phenomenon first hand, make this rise above other Merckx bios.
July 28, 2020
Tells you all you need to know about the Great Man.
July 1, 2021
Very disappointing. Badly written, rambling, far too many names and places. If there was a structure I missed it.
August 20, 2023
A great overview of the GOAT of cycling. Lots of contemporary interviews. Good intro to the man and the times he rode in, if you love cycling it's a great read.
August 2, 2025
Fun to read during the Tour. A decent overview of Eddy's life with a few great lines, but an ultimately average work.
April 19, 2014
Eddy Merckx can be an enigma for anyone with a growing interest in cycling. Friebe points out that football has Pele and Maradona, tennis has Borg and McEnroe (and maybe Federer), F1 has Schumacher and Senna (and Clarke and Fangio), but cycling has only Merckx.
Knowing about sporting icons is essential because they reflect the values and approaches that are the essence of their sports. The interesting part of the Merckx story is that his inevitable dominance of cycling history seemed to be a fact to those he was riding beside as much as it is five decades later.
Friebe explains Merckx as representing both the 'old' style of cycling as exploits and the 'modern' cycling with its professionalism, but without today's limited focus on peaking at specific races or specialities. Merckx rode at maximum every minute of every race for an entire career.
This book works well as an introduction to the Merckx era, his achievements, and the personalities in that age of Belgian cycling. It is an easy read and is full of anecdotes built from extensive interviews with everyone, except Merckx himself.
This is the book's weakness because Merckx's motivations and approach were obviously more complex than his soundbites: His genius remains opaque without being explained in his own words.
The book is also challenged by attempting to cover such an incredible palmares, and might have been more appealing if it focused more on crucial moments in the way that it treats Savona, Barcelona and Pra Loup.
This book is definitely a must-read for anyone with a keen interest in cycling, but it is unlikely to be the last book we need to read on the greatest competitor that cycling (and possibly any sport) will ever see.
Knowing about sporting icons is essential because they reflect the values and approaches that are the essence of their sports. The interesting part of the Merckx story is that his inevitable dominance of cycling history seemed to be a fact to those he was riding beside as much as it is five decades later.
Friebe explains Merckx as representing both the 'old' style of cycling as exploits and the 'modern' cycling with its professionalism, but without today's limited focus on peaking at specific races or specialities. Merckx rode at maximum every minute of every race for an entire career.
This book works well as an introduction to the Merckx era, his achievements, and the personalities in that age of Belgian cycling. It is an easy read and is full of anecdotes built from extensive interviews with everyone, except Merckx himself.
This is the book's weakness because Merckx's motivations and approach were obviously more complex than his soundbites: His genius remains opaque without being explained in his own words.
The book is also challenged by attempting to cover such an incredible palmares, and might have been more appealing if it focused more on crucial moments in the way that it treats Savona, Barcelona and Pra Loup.
This book is definitely a must-read for anyone with a keen interest in cycling, but it is unlikely to be the last book we need to read on the greatest competitor that cycling (and possibly any sport) will ever see.
August 31, 2012
I picked this up from the local library on a whim. My knowledge of elite level cycling, such as it is, comes largely from Geoffrey Wheatcroft's History of the Tour de France, with a smattering from Victor Hugo Pena's 'A Significant Other' and the small amount I was able to glean watching Eurosport in French at a loose end in a hotel room for a few days back in, I think, 2006.
But really, what made Merckx's story interesting to me was not primarily, the cycling but the way it traced the career of a man who, for a time, utterly dominated his sport, how his rivals and colleagues reacted to that dominance, and how Merckx himself reacted when time and tide saw him lose that edge. Really, it could be about an elite sportsman in any sport because, with those rare exceptions who know to bow out at the very top of their game, it's been the story of anyone who reaches the very top of professional sport.
How accurately Friebe describes the cycling rivalries I couldn't say, but the version of the story he tells made for an intriguing read, and the chapter near the end about that ever-present spectre in elite level cycling, doping, gives the lie to the idea that performance enhancing drugs were either rare or ineffective back in the 60s and 70s, while coming to no definite conclusions as to whether Merckx' success could be attributed to them (he tested positive for drugs 3 times in his career, but set against that, he tested negative hundreds of times.) I can only speak as someone who doesn't know much about the subject, but I found this worth my time.
But really, what made Merckx's story interesting to me was not primarily, the cycling but the way it traced the career of a man who, for a time, utterly dominated his sport, how his rivals and colleagues reacted to that dominance, and how Merckx himself reacted when time and tide saw him lose that edge. Really, it could be about an elite sportsman in any sport because, with those rare exceptions who know to bow out at the very top of their game, it's been the story of anyone who reaches the very top of professional sport.
How accurately Friebe describes the cycling rivalries I couldn't say, but the version of the story he tells made for an intriguing read, and the chapter near the end about that ever-present spectre in elite level cycling, doping, gives the lie to the idea that performance enhancing drugs were either rare or ineffective back in the 60s and 70s, while coming to no definite conclusions as to whether Merckx' success could be attributed to them (he tested positive for drugs 3 times in his career, but set against that, he tested negative hundreds of times.) I can only speak as someone who doesn't know much about the subject, but I found this worth my time.
January 15, 2017
Very much written in Herbie Sykes/Rouleur style and relies on a large number of current interviews with Merckx’s contemporaries (with in many cases comments on the interviewees and many based at cycle races especially the Giro) and mainly his rivals; he explicitly makes a strength of the book’s weakness – that Merckx contractually wouldn’t talk to him and instead bases the books around the enigma of Merckx: when did people realise how good he was, how did they adapt to him, what did they think drove him.
William Fotheringham Half Man, Half Bike: The Life of Eddy Merckx, Cycling's Greatest Championis a much more conventional book and is written around translations of previous works and a much more limited number of interviews (many from other projects or previous magazine articles) – although interestingly he features many of the same stories at Friebe which implies many are well worn tales and Friebe just the latest to hear them.
William Fotheringham Half Man, Half Bike: The Life of Eddy Merckx, Cycling's Greatest Championis a much more conventional book and is written around translations of previous works and a much more limited number of interviews (many from other projects or previous magazine articles) – although interestingly he features many of the same stories at Friebe which implies many are well worn tales and Friebe just the latest to hear them.
January 5, 2014
Very detailed accounts of the exploits of the world's most successful cyclist. Should be read by Armstrong supporters who maintain this accolade should go to him. Merckx dominated everything, not just the TdF.
Mentions the doping allegations, but not much detail on this (quite refreshing having read Hamilton et al). Concentrates on the cycling career and not the man after retirement (fair enough), I am sure there could be another book on Merckx's contacts post-retirement (introductions to Michele Ferrari, etc.), although I'm not sure we need one!
Mentions the doping allegations, but not much detail on this (quite refreshing having read Hamilton et al). Concentrates on the cycling career and not the man after retirement (fair enough), I am sure there could be another book on Merckx's contacts post-retirement (introductions to Michele Ferrari, etc.), although I'm not sure we need one!
Read
July 8, 2012Couldn't get into it. Perhaps I need more background on the era. Just too many names and characters on every page. Flipping through it there were some great stories, but not worth the full read for me at the moment.
April 10, 2013
Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal is a very thorough account of his cycling career that emphasizes his trials and drawbacks. The author has an encyclopediac knowledge of the races and competitors of the late 60s/ 70s.
January 4, 2016
Good, though it was largely academic and dry. No dispute he's the greatest cyclist ever (so far) but I couldn't seem to get a rhythm with the book. Did drive me to watching some of the stages mentioned on YouTube - what a different era than the one we live in today.
May 22, 2016
An enjoyable read. Unfortunately I don't really know that much about cycling and most of names, races and technical terms required me to frequently consult the Oracle at Wikipedia. As such I kinda wished I had more foreknowledge going in.
August 5, 2015
Daję pińć gwiazdek, bo to dobra książka jest.
April 12, 2017
“Awesome”, “Outstanding” and “Exhilarating!” it yells from the cover, I have to say I was beginning to think I was reading the wrong book. I am not a cycling enthusiast and have only ever read one cycling related book, by a certain drug cheating, cancer survivor with quite an ego. This book had a peculiar, non-linear style that often took you a while to understand what he was talking about or who he was talking with. If you are not familiar with cycling tactics, terminology and the state of the sport during the featured era then you may struggle.
The writer makes some compelling revelations, like how even back in the 70s drug abuse was rampant in cycling, for example 52% of the 1977 Tour De France starting line up tested positive for banned substances during their career and Merckx was also caught more than once. This book suffers from lack of personal insight and input from Merckx himself. I thought his style was clunky and messy and certainly not effective at making an unknown subject any clearer for the layman.
This isn’t a bad book, it’s clearly been thoroughly researched and benefits from some relevant interviews, all the so called drama and excitement has definitely passed me by, maybe a better grounding in the sporting politics etc would have given me that? This book certainly didn’t spike my interest in the field and it actually read as if it had been translated from another language as it just doesn’t seem to flow very well.
April 24, 2017
He Can Write
Normally biographies are readable only because of the intrigue and exploits of their subjects... in this case the book is a pleasant read regardless of the grandeur of it's subject. It would hold the attention of a discerning reader uninitiated to the world of cycling.
Normally biographies are readable only because of the intrigue and exploits of their subjects... in this case the book is a pleasant read regardless of the grandeur of it's subject. It would hold the attention of a discerning reader uninitiated to the world of cycling.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews