Eddy Merchx was born in Belgium in 1945 and became the best road bicycle racer the world has ever seen. He won the Tour de France 5 times in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974, the Giro D'Italia 5 times in 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974 and the Vuelta a Espana once in 1973. Merckx also won the Tour de Suisse once, Paris-Nice 3 times, Dauphne-Libere once, Paris-Roubaix 3 times, Liege-Bastogne-Liege 5 times and the World Road Race Championship 3 times. Eddy Merckx is also one of only five riders to win all three big stage races during their career, the four others are:Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador.