Almost everyone knows that no one has ever won more races than Eddy Merckx and the question is whether this record will ever be improved? I do not think so.
Who are the riders who have won the most races after Merckx? An overview of the top 5. It is striking that 4 of the 5 riders come from Belgium.
5. Roger De Vlaeminck – 259 victories
Roger De Vlaeminck (Eeklo, 1947) was a professional cyclist from 1969 to 1984 and was a complete cyclist. He won on the road, on the track and even became cyclocross world champion. He won a total of 259 times on the road and 70 times in the field. He won all 5 monuments: Milan Sanremo, Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Liège Bastogne Liège, Paris Roubaix and the Tour of Lombardy.
His closest finish in one of the 3 Grand Tours is a 4th place in the 1975 Giro d'Italia. The only victory missing from Roger De Vlaeminck's impressive list of achievements is a world title. In 1975 he won the sprint for 2nd place after the Dutchman Hennie Kuiper crossed the finish line 17 seconds earlier as 1st.
Roger De Vlaeminck still has, together with Tom Boonen, the most number of victories in the hell classic Paris Roubaix, which earned him the nickname Monsieur Paris Roubaix. Another nickname was Le Gitane.
Most important victories
- 6 keer Tirreno Adriatico
- 22 etappes in de Giro d’Italia
- 1 etappe in de Tour de France
- 1 etappe in de Vuelta
- 1 Ronde van Zwitserland
- 4 times Paris Roubaix
- 3 keer Milaan Sanremo
- 1 keer Luik Bastenaken Luik
- 1 keer De Waalse Pijl
- 2 keer Ronde van Lombardije
- 1 Ronde Van Vlaanderen
- 2 keer Belgisch kampioen
- 1 time worldchampion cyclocross
- 1 time Belgian champion on the track with Patrick Sercu
4. Rik Van Steenbergen – 270 victories
Rik Van Steenbergen (Arendonk, 1924 – 2003) was a professional cyclist from 1942 to 1966 and won no fewer than 270 victories in his career. His nicknames were Rik I and Grote Rik. In 2004, a bronze bust of him was unveiled in his native village Arendonk.
Despite the fact that Rik was made for the classics, he took 2nd place in the 1951 Giro d'Italia behind Fiorenzo Magni. He also rode a lot on the track and won no less than 40 six-day races. The only monument that Rik Van Steenbergen did not win was Liège Bastogne Liège.
Most important victories
- 15 etappes in de Giro d’Italia
- 4 etappes in de Tour de France
- 6 etappes in de Vuelta
- 2 keer Parijs Roubaix
- 1 keer Milaan Sanremo
- 2 keer De Waalse Pijl
- 2 keer De Ronde Van Vlaanderen
- 3 keer Wereldkampioen
- 3 keer Belgisch kampioen
3. Francesco Moser – 273 victories
The Italian rider Francesco Moser (Palù di Giovo, 1951) was a professional cyclist from 1973 to 1988. He was also a complete rider, winning both classics and rounds. For example, he won the Giro d'Italia in 1984 by taking the leader's pink jersey in the final time trial from Laurent Fignon.
Moser was also the first to exceed 50 km/h in an hour in Mexico City in 1984, breaking Eddy Merckx's cycling hour record, albeit on a completely different bike than Merckx in 1972.
Most important victories
- 1 Giro d’Italia
- 2 keer Tirreno Adriatico
- 22 overwinningen in de Giro d’Italia
- 3 keer Parijs Roubaix
- 1 keer Milaan Sanremo
- 2 keer Ronde van Lombardije
- 1 keer Waalse Pijl
- 1 keer Wereldkampioen
- 3 keer Italiaans kampioen
2. Rik Van Looy – 379 victories
Rik Van Looy (Grobbendonk, 1933 ) also called the Emperor of Herentals or Rik II, was undoubtedly more made for the classics than for the Grand Tours, but still achieved wonderful results in 1959 in the Giro d'Italia (4th place) and the Vuelta (3rd place).
Rik Van Looy's career started with Rik Van Steenbergen's final period and ended with Eddy Merckx's initial period. In 1966 they rode in the same team but it didn't really work out.
Van Looy is the only rider who won the six classics out of category: Milan Sanremo, Liège Bastogne Liège, Paris Roubaix, Paris Tours, Tour of Flanders, Tour of Lombardy. Rik Van Looy also won 12 six days on the track.
Most important victories
- 12 etappezeges in de Giro d’Italia
- 9 etappezeges in de Tour de France
- 18 etappezeges in de Vuelta
- 3 keer Parijs Roubaix
- 2 keer Ronde van Vlaanderen
- 1 keer Ronde van Lombardije
- 1 keer Luik Bastenaken Luik
- 1 keer De Waalse Pijl
- 2 keer wereldkampioen
- 2 keer Belgisch kampioen
1. Eddy Merckx – 445 victories
Needless to introduce the greatest rider of all time Eddy Merckx (Meensel – Kiezegem, 1945), nicknamed the cannibal because he left no victory to his opponents. Eddy Merckx really wanted to win everything and he did.
In his fairly short but intense cycling career (from 1965 to 1978) he won no less than 445 races on the road and in addition 98 track races and even 2 in the field. He won all Grand Tours and all Classics except for Paris Tours. It prompted former cyclist Noël Vantyghem, who once won Paris Tours, to write the following sentence “Eddy Merckx and I have won all the classics together, I Paris Tours and he the rest”.
Merckx has been named worldwide sportsman of the year 3 times: 1969, 1971 and 1974. In addition, he was also named Belgian of the century by the weekly magazine Knack in 2000.
Most important victories
- 5 keer Tour de France
- 5 keer Giro d’Italia
- 1 keer Vuelta
- 24 etappezeges in de Giro d’Italia
- 34 etappezeges in de Tour de France
- 6 etappezeges in de Vuelta
- 3 keer De Ronde van Vlaanderen
- 7 keer Milaan Sanremo
- 2 keer De Waalse Pijl
- 4 times Liege Bastogne Liege
- 2 keer Ronde van Lombardije
- 3 keer Parijs Roubaix
- 2 keer Amstel Gold Race
- 3 keer Wereldkampioen
- 1 keer Belgisch kampioen
