1976 Milan-San Remo

This coming Saturday the 21st, the bicycle racing season kicks off with the first of the one-day Spring Classics, the 100th edition of Milan-San Remo. I enjoy the one-day races more than the longer tours because there are less team tactics, less holding back. Because there is no tomorrow, there is less parsing of strength; they are mano-a-mano. There are those who maintain I am an opinionated S.O.B. (duh), but I offer the following, not as an opinion, but as a fact:

Eddy Merckx was the greatest rider to ever turn a pedal, and anyone who thinks otherwise is either a fool, or has absolutely no knowledge of cycling history.

The following is an edited down piece from the Milan-San Remo site:

Friday 19 March 1976. The 67th Milan-San Remo was won for a record seventh time by Eddy Merckx.
For once the man who had made Molteni sausages a dish royalty knew about, was not the pre-race favorite. His inconsistent form in Tirreno-Adriatico, which had finished three days earlier, saw him finish second overall to Roger De Vlaeminck. Merckx however had not fully recovered from an earlier bout of bronchitis.
Eddy Merckx was part of a leading group of fifteen riders that formed on the descent of the Capo Berta, which came after the 240 km mark. Along the rolling coast road Merckx attacked three times. Each time he caught the rest of the group by surprise with bursts of effort that took him up to 100 meters clear. Each time his rivals fought back up to him, but having to dig deep into their reserves of strength. Then suddenly the race route turned right off the wide coastal road and onto the narrower road of the Poggio climb. Here came the fourth and vital attack. Again it was a surprise move, but this time there was hesitation. De Vlaeminck and Maertens looked at each other, each hoping the other would bridge the gap. Instead it was a young Vandenbroucke who crossed and joined Merckx.
The two Belgians climbed side by side, and at the top it was clear the victory would be between these two. "Eddy asked me to do my share, but I had to confess that I was virtually at the end of my strength." Vandenbroucke said later. At the top, the nearest, Paris-Nice winner Laurent, was 15 seconds behind followed by Panizza, with the rest not far back. Merckx had out-witted his rivals once again, for most had been expecting an attack over the top of the Poggio, scene of several of his winning moves in the past.
Into San Remo itself, Vandenbroucke took over the lead from Merckx, who motioned him through. With 300 metres remaining Merckx erupted from Vandenbroucke's back wheel and the race was over.