I've never seen the crowd being allowed so close to the riders. One little slip and a lot of people could get hurt.
His first win at the Tour de France in 1969 promoted his name to the world's attention. It was the first time he ever rode the Tour de France, something virtually unheard of now. He finished with the maillot jaune as the overall leader of the race, with the green jersey as the points competition winner, and the red polka-dotted jersey as the best climber in the mountain stages of the race, an achievement unique in the history of the sport. If the young riders' white jersey (for best rider in the Tour that is under 25 years of age) had existed at that time, Merckx would have won that as well. He was 24.
Other racers called him the "cannibal" because he refused to ride tactically, preferring to go flat out at all times. During his peak years as a racer, he is said to have cycled over 35,000km a year. While climbing the steep, severe Mont Ventoux in 1970 to a stage win, he rode so strongly and pushed himself so hard that after he finished, oxygen was administered. He won the Tour de France five times.
In 1975, he attempted to win his sixth Tour de France, but became a victim of violence in sports. A Belgian beating the record of 5 wins set by Frenchman Jacques Anquetil did not sit well with non athletic French spectators. He held the yellow jersey for 8 days, which brought his record to 95, but on stage 14 a spectator leapt from the crowd and punched him in the kidneys. He kept racing with a double fracture and took medications. The pain in combination with the medicine caused him to fall during the race and shake the scafolding on the podium. He eventually soon ran out of energy and lost his lead but on the last stage he showed one last sign of defiance by sprinting ahead of the peleton. He would never win the Tour de France again.