Do we like them?

Do we like Eddy Merckx?

Our score: 7 out of 10. A decent record and nothing harmful found, but the record we could verify is thin and carries an old doping cloud.

Merckx was born in 1945 and became the most dominant rider the sport has seen. Between 1968 and 1975 he won the cobbled classics and the grand tours. In 1972 alone he took Milan-San Remo, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro, the Tour and the world hour record. He was racing in the 1975 Tour with a fractured cheekbone and jaw after a crash, which tells you plenty about his stubbornness.

The black mark is Savona, 1969. He was wearing the pink jersey at the Giro when a urine sample showed a stimulant, fencamfamine, and he was thrown off the race. He denied wrongdoing and suggested manipulation. The riders' association ruled in his favour "in case of doubt", so he could start the Tour, which he won on debut. One account says he tested positive three times in his career, but it gives no detail on the other two, so treat the full record as unclear.

On the harm test, we found nothing nasty. Searches turned up no words from him about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet, and no record of him campaigning for anyone harmful. That is a gap, not a gold star, so the mark is a pass rather than a distinction. His public stances are mostly about cycling itself.

Where he has spoken, he has stood against cheating. After Lance Armstrong's USADA fallout he said "My disappointment is growing and growing." He said he felt hurt that Armstrong kept denying doping even in private conversations. He also called Armstrong's claim that the Tour can't be won without doping scandalous towards clean riders.

The cheekier side is that he is not shy about critiquing younger riders. Cycling media have reported him criticising Remco Evenepoel more than once, and Evenepoel has said he felt that respect wasn't returned. That is a sporting spat, not a harm issue, but it stops him being a pure saint. We found no sign of an apology.

The good stuff is mostly honour and ambassadorship. In 2011 the Free University of Brussels gave him an honorary doctorate, and he said it was a "big honour". He was already a baron by then, and Herman Van Rompuy had called him Belgium's biggest ambassador abroad. After racing he built a bike business that still carries his name.