<DIV><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Eddy Merckx is to cycling what Muhammad Ali is to boxing or Pele to soccer: simply the best there has ever been. Merckx amassed an astonishing 445 victories. Lance Armstrong, by comparison, managed fewer than 100. Merckx didn’t just beat his opponents; he crushed them.</P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal> But his triumphs only tell half a story that includes horrific injury, a doping controversy, and tragedy. He was nicknamed “the Cannibal” for his insatiable appetite for victory, but the moniker did scant justice to a man who was handsome, sensitive, and surprisingly anxious.</P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal> A number-one bestseller in the United Kingdom, <I>Half Man, Half Bike</I> is the definitive story of a man whose fear of failure drove him to the highest pinnacles before ultimately destroying him.</DIV>