I think the bike race in American Flyers was based on the Coors Classic (sadly no longer part of the American racing season). The movie is from 1985 and stars Kevin Costner. It is fictional, but if I remember correctly some pro cyclists of the time were in the race scenes as extras and the team that they placed their fictional rider on was a real pro team at the time (7-11). You are also correct in that they gave one of the characters Eddy's nickname.
for more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088707/
this movie is very much a cult classic among cyclists much like Breaking Away, which though also fictional has the great Little 500 featured in it.