Looking for something to flick through while waiting for your daily Tour de France fix? Merckx 69 is the perfect accompaniment to the unfolding drama of the great race, documenting as it does, the finest year of one of the world’s finest cyclists.
1969 was the year that saw Eddy Merckx revealed as the consummate cyclist. Not just in terms of wins, there were also dreadful falls and setbacks, but in resilience and the passion that drove him and ensured his status as a legend of the cycling world. Tonny Strouken was there to document much of it, offering an insight not just into Merckx and his career but into the times themselves. Riding with Merckx he was in a unique position to notice and capture moments other’s missed and this book features previously unpublished photographs. Together with Jan Maes, he has created for Merckx, in his 69th year, a tribute that brings alive the most important year of his career and features a foreword from the man himself.
Presented in a large format this beautiful book will get you through many a cold evening waiting for your late night Tour de France broadcast and is available from your favourite local bookshop.
Merckx 69 by Tonny Strouken and Jan Maes is published by Bloomsbury, July 2014
