Anatomy of a Photo: Elvis of the bike

You are already beaten.

How is it that the greatest cyclist would be so handsome? When the stars lined up with Mr Merckx, they all lined up. Cycling does seem to produce a lot of handsome athletes but really Eddy, didn’t you already have it all? He was already the most driven, most meticulous, the hardest and the fastest. Shouldn’t he have at least looked more like Buddy Holly than Elvis Presley?

One has to admire a person who was given a gift and then did every possible thing to maximize that gift. He left no stone unturned, including Looking Fantastic, even when inspecting the newspaper.

Gianni

Gianni has left the building.

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Owen says:

Oct 24 2015 at 9:50 am

@EBruner

@Ed Broyles

I have considered the exact same thing. Eddie Bruner – Eddy Bruner. Done.

Think it'll work for those of us not blessed with names anything close to Belgian?
Gianni says:

Oct 24 2015 at 10:47 am

@santiago benites

Talk about a man crush. Get a room!

I know. It's not right, but really, it's hard to deny the awesome in that photo.
Gianni says:

Oct 24 2015 at 10:50 am

@Gerrit Wijnne

I don’t think Eddy Merckx is the Elvis of cycling. Elvis didn’t write his own songs. Merckx did. I like to see him as the Beatles of cycling. That does him more justice.

But Elvis wore leather jackets and looked badass and the Beatles looked like pussies. Am I allowed to say that? Maybe Eddy was the Johnny Cash of cycling, naw, James Brown? I must think about this.
Gianni says:

Oct 24 2015 at 10:54 am

@Tremolat

Eddy’s first appearance in “The Hell of the North” is very much “Elvis has entered the building”. Powdered blue leisure suit, if memory serves. Awesome.

Exactly, Elvis must have owned a few powder blue leisure suits. Eddy had a Benz and Elvis a Caddy. But yes, he did had a look of the alpha male there. RdV still looks like a bit of a goof ball in the leather trench coat. I think he is hoping he looks as badass as Coppi did in a leather trench, not quite.
frank says:

Oct 24 2015 at 12:35 pm

@Gianni

@Gerrit Wijnne

I don’t think Eddy Merckx is the Elvis of cycling. Elvis didn’t write his own songs. Merckx did. I like to see him as the Beatles of cycling. That does him more justice.

But Elvis wore leather jackets and looked badass and the Beatles looked like pussies. Am I allowed to say that? Maybe Eddy was the Johnny Cash of cycling, naw, James Brown? I must think about this.

Don't let Gerrit confuse you; you just said he LOOKED like the Elvis of Cycling. You weren't making career comparisons.

And I think anyone would have a tough time of making the case Merckx and Roger didn't style themselves after Elvis.
brett says:

Oct 24 2015 at 2:11 pm

So much Fantastic around here this week.
wiscot says:

Oct 24 2015 at 4:18 pm

@frank

@EBruner

Great photo! Eddy with always be the coolest. Followed a close second by RDV.

That’s got to be one of my favorite shots of all time. I really hope someone kept that leather trench, presumably made of the human bodies Eddy and RdV left in the gutters of Paris-Roubaix.

This picture should be so wrong, but it's not. Sure Coppi did it better, but I have to admit RdV is a close second.
EBruner says:

Oct 24 2015 at 7:29 pm

@wiscot

I agree! That is what is so awesome about it. EVERYTHING should be wrong with that photo, but he pulls it off and makes you wish you were him.
Ccos says:

Oct 24 2015 at 7:49 pm

@EBruner

@wiscot

I agree! That is what is so awesome about it. EVERYTHING should be wrong with that photo, but he pulls it off and makes you wish you were him.

I have a fear that were I to have had all the gifts of Merckx, I would have been an asshole. Certain others have certainly proven this to be true (names redacted).
EBruner says:

Oct 24 2015 at 8:14 pm

@Ccos

I hear you! I don't have 1% of his gifts, and I have to work at NOT being an asshole.