{"id":669219,"date":"2026-07-02T05:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/669219\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T05:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:14:26","slug":"breitlings-top-time-b01-eddy-merckx-is-an-homage-to-the-greatest-cyclist-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/669219\/","title":{"rendered":"Breitling\u2019s Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx is an \u201chomage to the greatest cyclist of all time\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Breitling has revealed the Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx timepieces, \u201can homage to the greatest cyclist of all time\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Breitling CEO Jean-Marc Pontrou\u00e9 says: \u201cEddy Merckx is the greatest cyclist of all time. His record speaks for itself. These watches capture that drive, that constant push to go further, faster, and push limits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The watch is said to honour Merckx\u2019s domination of professional cycling. Nicknamed The Cannibal, Merckx clocked 525 victories during this career. This included 11 Grand Tours, 19 Monuments and three World Championships. He won the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/events\/tour-de-france\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tour de France<\/a> five times and recorded 96 days in the yellow jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Breitling Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"648\" height=\"648\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Breitling-Top-Time-B01-Eddy-Merckx_AB01762C1I1X1_YellowLeather_RGB.jpg\" alt=\"Breitling Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx watch with leather strap.\" class=\"wp-image-981554\"\/>The watch comes with a stainless steel mesh bracelet or leather strap (pictured). Breitling<\/p>\n<p>The Breitling Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx encapsulates these victories through several details.<\/p>\n<p>The Top Time itself was introduced in the 1960s, when Merckx began his career, as a line of racing watches, \u201cdesigned to capture the era\u2019s spirit of speed, style and freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The new Eddy Merckx edition has a yellow dial to reflect the champion\u2019s Tour de France success.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContrasting subdials in the collection\u2019s signature \u201csquircle\u201d shape bring clarity and edge, echoing the visual language of race timing and performance,\u201d Breitling says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1970_individual-time-trial-stage-of-the-Tour-de-France-at-Divonne-les-Bains_Eddy-Merckx_GettyImages-.jpeg\" alt=\"Belgian racing cyclist Eddy Merckx pictured in action during competition for the Faemino-Faema cycling team during an individual time trial stage of the 1970 Tour de France at Divonne-les-Bains in France on 7th July 1970. Eddy Merckx would go on to finish in first place to win the 1970 tour in Paris on 19th July 1970. (Photo by Rolls Press\/Popperfoto via Getty Images\/Getty Images)\" class=\"wp-image-981553\"\/>Eddy Merckx racing in an individual time trial at the 1970 Tour de France, which he would go on to win. Rolls Press \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;One of 525&#8217; is etched on the caseback to mark his total number of victories (which were also honoured by the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/reviews\/bikes\/road-bikes\/eddy-merckx-525r-ultegra-di2-review\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eddy Merckx 525R<\/a>). &#8216;Eddy Merckx Tribute&#8217; is written on the open caseback and Merckx\u2019s signature can be found at 6 o\u2019clock.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 41mm watch is powered by Breitling\u2019s Manufacture Caliber 01, and it is self-winding with a 70-hour power reserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The watch has either a calfskin leather strap with a folding clasp or a stainless steel mesh bracelet with butterfly clasp.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>Not the first cycling watch from Breitling<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/03_Top-Time-B01-Eddy-Merckx_AB01762C1I1X1_AB01762C1I1A1_RGB.jpg\" alt=\"Breitling Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx.\" class=\"wp-image-981552\" style=\"aspect-ratio:3\/2;object-fit:cover\"\/>The Breitling Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx watches. Breitling<\/p>\n<p>The new Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx isn\u2019t the first cycling watch from Breitling. The Swiss watchmaker released the Top Time Coppi and Top Time Bartali editions last year, which were \u201cinspired by one of cycling\u2019s most iconic rivalries\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Breitling also says its relationship to the sport extends back to the 19th century, when the company created cycling-oriented stopwatches. In the 1930s, it created a timing apparatus that was used for cycling races.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Breitling hasn&#8217;t confirmed the cost of its latest watch, but we doubt it will cost anything like as much as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/news\/colnago-richard-mille-watch-pogacar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colnago and Richard Mille million-dollar watch<\/a> that launched earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, we also saw Bravur release the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/news\/bravur-grand-tour-sprinter-watch\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Grand Tour Sprinter<\/a>, which celebrates \u201ccycling\u2019s fastest finishers\u201d, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/news\/2026-zwift-bravur-watch\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">collaboration with Zwift<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breitling has revealed the Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx timepieces, \u201can homage to the greatest cyclist of all&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-669219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}