He is one of the three riders to win all five 'Monuments of Cycling' (i.e., Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia), the other two being Rik Van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck [REF].
He was given the nickname "The Cannibal" by the daughter of Christian Raymond, a teammate of Merckx's [REF].