Baron Edouard Louis Joseph (Eddy) Merckx (born 17 June 1945 in Meensel-Kiezegem) is a former Belgian cyclist who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. With 521 road victories, he is generally regarded as the best cyclist of all time. He won the Tour of Italy five times, the Tour de France five times, the Tour of Spain once and became world champion three times. He also won almost all the classics and broke the world hour record. After his career he founded a bicycle company called Eddy Merckx Cycles.