For instance, Merckx, won all those races against
riders that were also doing all those races and were probably just as
tired as
he, and also, the talent pool is much larger and stronger these days. You
can
argue, who was most dominant in their era, which is still meaningless.
The
only thing we can say for sure, is that they are the best of their time.


Merckx won a record of 33 BIG Classics riding against other cyclists who
dedicated only for the Classics and not "as tired as Merckx", and equaled
the records in the Giro and Tour (with 5 wins in both) against very hard
opposition from stage race specialists, often with coalition of riders that
worked to see his defeat. He also won the Vuelta in 1973, and 3 times the
World Championship. His list of professional road wins is incredibly wide
(525 to be more exact). But he also contested the Six day races in the
winter against the greatest track specialists of the time, winning them as
well.

When he was fighting for his sixth Tour and wearing the maillot jaune, he
has been hitten in the stomach by a French fanatic and fell while climbing
the Puy-de-Dome, requiring some medication that affected his performance in
the following stages, allowing French climber Bernard Thevenet to win the
Tour by 2'47". He also had a crash with one week to go and BROKE his
jawbone, taking only liquids or mashed food with great pain during the last
week of the race. Everybody told him to quit, but he said he was going to
continue to give Thevenet the satisfaction to see him in the second place of
the podium.
Take only this sample (there are many more) to learn why Eddy Merckx was the
greatest rider of all time.