Merckx did set his hour record after having an incredible season that he capped by winning the TdF and his training regimen was as brutal as one could imagine... taking 300 km rides to warm up for races for example.



Had he not experienced some rather serious injuries he may have well won far more races than he did.

He is like Gretzky who is by far the greatest athlete in their given sport... they both re-wrote the record books and dominated their sport like no one did before or has since.