William Fotheringham (2012 Event)

Cycling was a hot topic during the summer of 2012, with British success in the Olympics and the Tour de France, and the breaking of the Lance Armstrong scandal, and it was against this backdrop that sports journalist William Fotheringham came to the Book Festival to talk about one of the cycling world’s lesser-known legends. Eddy Merckx is to cycling what Ali (or Tyson) was to boxing and Pelé (or Messi) is to football: quite simply, the best there has ever been. Throughout his professional career the Belgian amassed an astonishing 445 victories and, along the way, dealt with horrific injury, a doping scandal and tragedy. Fotheringham shared the details of this remarkable sporting life during this event, which was recorded live at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, with festival Director Nick Barley.