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SPIEGEL Interview with Bicycle Racing Great Eddy Merckx

"Armstrong Is Damned to Victory"

Part 2: Part II: Armstrong's Opponents Know this Is their Last Chance.

Merckx: Absolutely. It is not difficult to constantly keep the goal of winning in mind. When I first got to know Lance Armstrong, he hadn't yet become a "killer."

SPIEGEL: When did you get to know him?

Merckx: During the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 -- at that time he rode a bicycle from my factory. Immediately afterwards, he became a professional for the Motorola Team; I supplied gear to the team at the time. A year later, he became world champion and rode with my son Axel in the Motorola team -- and again used one of my factory's bikes.

SPIEGEL: Did you imagine at the time that he had the ability to win the Tour six times?

Merckx: No, nobody did. He was a brawny guy, strong, wild and too heavy for steep climbs -- the typical rider for single-day races or flat stages. And he didn't live for the sport; he liked a drink every now and then and didn't always eat healthily. A beer here and there isn't a problem, but he didn't really exercise self-control. His bout with (testicular) cancer changed his entire lifestyle and today he credits the experience with his success.

SPIEGEL: Armstrong has the image of being a cold perfectionist, ambitious, ruthless and extremely goal oriented. Is he like that in his private life as well?

Merckx: No. In recent years, when he would head to Belgium after the Tour to ride in criterion races there, he sometimes stayed with me -- and it was always very convivial. He liked my wife's cooking, especially her risotto. I would put a bottle of good red wine on the table and we would talk about our families and children and less about bike racing. One time, he stayed an entire week with us, but sometimes I don't hear from him for two months.

SPIEGEL: Were you surprised when he announced his retirement on April 18?

Merckx: No, I knew already. On the evening after the Tour of Flanders race in early April -- two weeks before his press conference -- we spent some time together and he told me. I tried to dissuade him from calling it quits like he did. But the people he works with convinced him to do it this way.

SPIEGEL: What is wrong with the way he is doing it?

Merckx: I would have ridden the Tour and then made the announcement after it was over. But this way, everybody knows that it is his final Tour and there is even more pressure. His opponents know that it is their last chance to beat him.

SPIEGEL: Do you think his decision to quit is the right one?

Merckx: I can understand him. When I suddenly climbed down from my bicycle in 1978, I was 33 years old, almost as old as Lance is today. I was totally burned out; it really takes it out of you to constantly be the favorite that everyone wants to beat. The others are no longer riding just to win, but are riding so that you lose. When every victory is accompanied by disapproval, it's no longer fun anymore. The stress turned me into a nervous wreck sometimes. And don't forget that Lance survived cancer -- that too has left its mark on him.

SPIEGEL: It sounds like Armstrong will be happy when his career is over.

Merckx: I think he will be. He will surely miss bicycle racing, but he can't stand all the stuff that goes along with it anymore -- damned to victory and always traveling through Europe far away from his three children.

SPIEGEL: Armstrong is the most successful Tour de France racer of all time, but is he the best cyclist of all time?

Merckx: You mean, is he better than I was? I don't like such comparisons -- too much has changed in bicycle racing. I regret the fact that the great champions like Armstrong and Ullrich only place value in the Tour de France anymore. If everyone thought like that, then we would only have to organize one bicycle race a year. My career didn't only consist of the Tour de France. I wanted to win as many bicycle races as I could. I was maybe the best rider during my time just as Lance is the best rider of his. It doesn't go any further than that.

SPIEGEL: Despite his success, many don't like Armstrong. Why not?

Merckx: That's the mentality of the French -- they'd rather be on the side of the loser. I was never as popular in France as I was in 1975 -- when I lost the Tour after having won it five times.

SPIEGEL: That was when a spectator attacked you from the edge of the street -- you never recovered from the blow. Would the French take Armstrong into their hearts were he to lose?

Merckx: No, I don't think so. I think it's too late for much to change there.

SPIEGEL: After you stopped racing, you fell into a personal crisis. What advice would you give Armstrong so that the same doesn't happen to him?

Merckx: He has to find new goals. Thirty-three is not old -- you can't just lean back and relax for the rest of your life, even if you've earned enough money.

SPIEGEL: Is Armstrong already planning for his life after bicycle racing?

Merckx: I don't think so. Maybe he'll accompany his girlfriend Sheryl Crow on her next tour.

SPIEGEL: Becoming a pop star groupie doesn't really sound like a life-fulfilling mission.

Merckx: No, but it would help him to take some distance from bike racing. I always told myself, "When I quit, I'm going to take my children to Disney World in Florida."

SPIEGEL: And?

Merckx: We spent three weeks there. And then I decided to become a bicycle manufacturer.

SPIEGEL: Monsieur Merckx, thank you very much for the interview.