Merckx was the best rider on the planet - not just at the time but remains so today as the Tour de France prepares to celebrate his career.

"When you raced together, with him being the best in the world, there was a lot of pressure on us as a team and me as his teammate to make sure we dominated the race," Gilmore recalled.

"I knew if I did not hold my end up and we were beaten, everyone would say it was Gilmore's fault because it was never going to be Eddy's."

The Belgian was in the process of compiling a cycling CV that remains unsurpassed half a century after his breakthrough achievement.

When the 106th Tour de France begins in Brussels on Saturday, it will commemorate the first of Merckx's five victories. He also wore the famed yellow jersey for more days than any other rider (96), won an incredible 34 individual stages and - in an era before cyclists were either sprinters of climbers - claimed both classifications multiple times, including together in 1969.

Merckx completed a clean sweep of Europe's three Grand Tours (adding the Tour of Italy five times including the sprint-climb double in 1968 plus 24 stage wins) and added four world championships plus 19 one-day classics, including Milan-San Remo seven times and Paris-Roubaix three.

Born 12 days apart on opposite sides of the world, Gilmore raced against, with and for Merckx, on both road and track.

Their connection continued through Gilmore's Belgian-born son Matthew who, with Merckx's help, won a madison world title and Olympic silver medal for the cycling-mad nation.

The trio even shared the same soigneur, Guillaume Michels, for their entire careers, a period spanning three decades.

Now a 74-year-old father-of-four and grandfather-of-10 enjoying retirement in Launceston, Graeme remains in touch with his former adversary, teammate and boss, is delighted to see the Tour honouring his achievements and still speaks of his cycling ability in the present tense.

"Eddy Merckx is super-natural," he said. "I have an extreme respect for his ability. I cannot speak highly enough of him as a bike rider but also as a person.

"He never puts himself above anyone else and has respect for everybody. But he is head and shoulders above everybody, particularly on the road but he was very skilled on the track as well. You very rarely see Eddy Merckx fall because of his bike handling skills.

"I think he is the ultimate all-rounder. He can climb mountains, he can sprint, he can time trial and is a very good strategist."

During a decade racing professionally in Europe, Graeme frequently lined up against Merckx including at the 1969 world championships in Zolder and witnessed the iconic status the Belgian enjoyed.

"We shared the same mechanic and masseur so spent a lot of time together at races," he said.

"There's no way he could go anywhere without being recognised and not just in Belgium but all over Europe.

"He is a baron in Belgium, they virtually knighted him.

"I would never put myself in the same league but Merckx, (1964 Olympic gold medallist) Patrick Sercu and I were all born in June 1945, so it was a good month.

"Pat was the king of the track and Eddy was king of the road. It was a privilege to be in the same generation and to race against them. And then they gave Matt tremendous help as well."

When Matthew followed his father's bike tracks, he found Merckx a willing ally.

"My best mate Lorenzo Lapage was married to the daughter of Paul van Himst who was quite a famous Belgian footballer and hung out with Merckx so through that link I began to run into him and we always got talking bikes.

"He was a huge help to me. In 2000 I was riding for a team with crap bikes and was about to go to the Olympics. When I told Eddy, he paid out the rest of my contract to allow me to ride his bikes. I wouldn't have achieved what I did without his help."

Matthew went on to win a silver medal with Etienne DeWilde in the madison and still carries a photo of the post-race celebrations drinking Stella Artois in a Sydney bar with Merckx, Sercu, Danny Clark and Matt's brother-in-law Paul Dobson.

"When I raced with Etienne we were one of only three or four medals for Belgium that year so it was quite a big deal there."

Like his father, Matthew experienced the Belgian adoration of Merckx and believes the Tour's celebration is apt as it visits the country's capital.

"He is massive there. Every generation of Belgian knows about Merckx. He gets swamped wherever he goes. But he's also a good down-to-earth fella.

"I think it's timely. He's had some great tributes from the Tour in the past but it's poignant that it is in Brussels near where he lives. When he used to come back after winning the Tour de France, the Grand Place would be choc-a-bloc full of people.

"He is still massive there. His bikes were always a prestige, quality brand - and that's what he is."

Both Gilmores turned to coaching after their racing days and enjoyed continuing to cross paths with Merckx.

"I run into Eddy at track world championships quite regularly and we always have a yarn," Matthew said. "When Dad was coaching they would catch up and there was a mutual respect there.

"Eddy's respect for Dad was genuine and that resonated with me as a young kid that Dad was able to have an impact on such a big star. Along with Pat Sercu, he certainly helped my career no end."

And how did Graeme cope with that pressure in Milan?

"Yeah, we won," he said.

"And one of the events was a 100km motor-paced madison and with two Lancia cars for the winners. We took one each. It was a really good high-performance estate car. I kept it until I left Europe."