but it's really the hills." -Eddy Merckx from
The Greatest Show on EarthAt my last bike club meeting we viewed a TERRIFIC documentary on the Belgian rider and 5-time Tour de France AND Giro d'Italia winner in the late sixties-early seventies. Eddy also set an hour record and was the recipient of many other awards.
Although outside of bike racing circles his name is virtually unknown in the US, he was a phenomenal athlete and a legit superstar in Europe. The doc not only has a lot of riding footage but shows his personal life and is a window into a different era of bicycle racing, when cyclists would stuff glass bottles into the backs of their jerseys, stop and take a drink from a farmer's hose, and wear little caps with upturned visors (no helmets).
HIGHLY recommended
http://www.worldcycling.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=ALL-DVD(currently out of stock)