 With his victory in the race , Eddy Merckx became the first rider to achieve the Triple Crown of Cycling , which consists of winning two Grand Tour races and the men 's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in a calendar year . Merckx had already won the Giro d 'Italia and the Tour de France , both of which are Grand Tours , before the World Championships and winning the men 's road race allowed him to complete the Triple Crown . This feat has since been matched by only one rider , Stephen Roche , who managed to complete the Triple Crown in the 1987 season . This was also Merckx 's third world title , which made him the third rider to ever be world champion three times , after Alfredo Binda and Rik Van Steenbergen . This was Merckx 's final world championship victory and also the last season that he won a Grand Tour . On February 22 , 1975 , Merckx gave the bike that he used during the race to Pope Paul VI while visiting Vatican City . 
