In 1969, Eddy Merckx’s debut in the Tour de France was sensational. On his first participation, he won with ease, authority and panache, then brought back the Yellow Jersey on the Grand-Place of Brussels, after 30 years of dearth for the Belgians in the Tour’s prize list. Fifty years later, on the occasion of the Grand Départ of the 2019 Tour, the entire nation continues to pay tribute to the five-time winner of the event, whose multiple records in the history of cycling still seem inaccessible.
