It was already a phenomenon, he was already one of the strongest riders in the group. Nevertheless Eddy Merckx, who had yet to turn 23 in May 1968, everything was still to be discovered in the Grand Tours. He arrived at that Giro d’Italia wearing the world champion’s jersey, fresh from his triumph at Paris-Roubaix, and many indicated him as the great favourite, although up to that point he had only raced one Grand Tour, the Corsa Rosa of previous year, finished in 9th place.
Merckx was nervous and, chosen by everyone as the great antagonist of the Italians, he did not want to wait, to be patient, to take action. So in the first stage, the Campione d’Italia-Novara – which had been preceded by a prologue to the Campione d’Italia – immediately put his signature on it, placing a finisseur’s thrust. Paaaam! Immediately with his cards exposed and immediately in the Pink Jersey, the first of the 77 that he will wear (absolute record, needless to say).
It was a bit of a shock for everyone, because the Grand Tours are elimination races, races to see who can save the most energy, hide and arrive fresher on the big mountains, and instead Merckx didn’t even want to wait for the second stage. But not everyone understood that that boy was about to bring cycling into a new era, the era of the Cannibal.
Novara was hosting the arrival of a stage of the Giro for the first time and at that moment perhaps it did not realize that it would remain in history forever, opening the Maglie Rosa score of the legendary Eddy. Merckx will “lose” it two days later to Michele Dancelli, and then take it back on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, in Stage 12, and take it to the end, where he will celebrate his first Giro d’Italia in Naples.
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