Editing Eddy Merckx (section)

====1968: First Grand Tour victory====
Merckx's first victory with his new team came in a stage win at the Giro di Sardegna.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=71}} At Paris–Nice, he was forced to quit the race due to a knee injury he sustained during the event.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=72}} He failed to win his third consecutive Milan–San Remo and missed out at the Tour of Flanders the following weekend.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=72}} His next victory came at Paris–Roubaix when he bested [[Herman Van Springel]] in a race that was plagued by poor weather and several punctures to the competing riders.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=72}}
At the behest of his team, Merckx raced the [[1968 Giro d'Italia|Giro d'Italia]] instead of the [[1968 Tour de France|Tour de France]].{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=72}} He won the race's second stage after he attacked with one kilometer to go.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|pp=72–73}}<ref name="BRI 1968 G">{{cite web|url=http://bikeraceinfo.com/giro/giro1968.html |title=1968 Giro d'Italia |work= Bike Race Info |publisher=Dog Ear Publishing |last1=McGann |first1=Bill |last2=McGann |first2=Carol |access-date=6 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010145018/http://bikeraceinfo.com/giro/giro1968.html|archive-date=10 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The twelfth stage was marred by rainy weather and featured the climbs of the [[Tre Cime di Lavaredo]] for the stage finish.<ref name="BRI 1968 G" /> By the time Merckx had reached the penultimate climb, there was a six-man group at the front of the race with a nine-minute advantage.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=73}} Merckx attacked and was able to get a sizable distance between himself and the group he left before he stopped to change his wheel in order to slow down due to orders from his team manager.<ref name="BRI 1968 G" />{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=74}} Merckx got back on his bike and caught the leading breakaway and rode past it to the finish, where he won the stage and took the race lead.<ref name="BRI 1968 G" />{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=75}} Merckx went on to win the race, along with the [[Points classification in the Giro d'Italia|points classification]] and [[Mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia|mountains classification]].<ref name="BRI 1968 G" /> In the [[Volta a Catalunya]], Merckx took the race lead from Gimondi in the race's time trial stage and won the event as a whole.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|pp=76–77}} He finished the season with 32 wins in the 129 races he entered.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2013|p=293}}