Loving portrait of a somewhat shy, reserved star who pushed the boundaries of his pain and endurance.

Five Tours de France, five Giros, three World Championships, a Vuelta, a legendary world hour record in Mexico and a whole bunch of classics: between 1967 and 1975 Eddy Merckx won everything there was to win, leaving his competitors behind. In less than a decade he became the ultimate icon of cycling, nicknamed ‘the cannibal’. But the more he won, the more his admiration turned into division. How do you keep cycling when adoration gives way to hatred?

Based on extensive TV archives, this documentary focuses on Merckx’s modest rise, from early competitions to a 13-year series of international triumphs. But somewhere at the top of his career, attitudes towards Merckx changed; some thought he won too much and the adoration was accompanied by jealousy. Can the extreme, glamorous and tense world of cycling replace the everyday joys and worries of a normal life? Eddy Merckx implicitly seeks an answer to this question.