Eddy Merckx
Fausto Coppi
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Eddy Merckx leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Eddy Merckx at #1 and Fausto Coppi at #4.
The case for Eddy Merckx
The Cannibal is the consensus greatest cyclist ever, and it is not close. Merckx won a scarcely believable 525 races across his career, a figure no rider has approached. He took 11 Grand Tours, five Tours de France, five Giri d'Italia and a Vuelta, three World road titles and a record 19 Monuments spanning every one-day Classic. He won 34 Tour stages while also claiming its points and mountains classifications, dominating flat sprints, mountains and time trials alike. In 1972 he set the Hour Record at 49.431 kilometres in Mexico City. His nickname came from his refusal to ease off even when a race was won, and his combination of range, longevity and win rate remains the benchmark against which every rider is measured.
The case for Fausto Coppi
Il Campionissimo, the champion of champions, was cycling's first modern great, a rider whose elegance and scientific approach set him apart in the post-war years. Coppi completed the first Giro-Tour double in 1949 and repeated it in 1952, won five Giri d'Italia and two Tours de France, and took the 1953 World title. His nine Monument victories included three Milan-San Remo, five Il Lombardia and a Paris-Roubaix, many won by riding away alone to finish minutes clear of the field. In 1942 he set the Hour Record at 45.798 kilometres, a mark that stood for 14 years. His rivalry with Gino Bartali divided a recovering Italy, and the image of the two sharing a bottle on a climb became an enduring symbol of the sport's romance.