Eddy Merckx is to cycling what Muhammad Ali is to boxing or Pele to soccer: simply the best there has ever been.
Merckx amassed an astonishing 445 victories.
Lance Armstrong, by comparison, managed fewer than 100.
Merckx 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.
A number-one bestseller in the United Kingdom, Half Man, Half Bike is the definitive story of a man whose fear of failure drove him to the highest pinnacles before ultimately destroying him.
| Soccer | Simply the best there has ever been |
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Chicago Review Press Half man, half bike: the life of eddy merckx, cycling's greatest champion, paperback/william fotheringham
