Crash victim Eddy Merckx said he is recovering well after his fall last week and should be back to riding again soon. But he won't be riding solo any more, he has decided.
“It’s going pretty well,” the Belgian legend told Belgium's VTM Nieuws. I’m going to keep [cycling], I’m determined about that. But not alone anymore, I’ve learned that lesson now. From now on, always in company.”
The 79-year-old fell off while riding last Monday and underwent surgery on his hip the following day. It was only a short ride to a friend's house, he said, but it began drizzling while he was out and, as he negotiated a railway crossing, his bike went out from underneath him.
Stranded on the railway tracks, he described his panic as he called for help.
"I fell right on my right thigh and knew immediately that it was a fracture," Merckx said. "I was in panic, because I was lying on the train tracks. I signalled, but at first no one came to help. I couldn't get up. Eventually I was helped by a motorcyclist and two other people also came to help.
"OK, the barriers were open at that moment. But you never know if they suddenly close.”
Merckx, who is widely regarded as the greatest cyclist who has ever lived (although more recently even the Belgian himself has suggested Tadej Pogačar may have usurped him), won 11 Grand Tours during his career and 500 races.
While he isn't planning to add to that palmarès any time soon, he has already been to see a physiotherapist with a view to getting back on the bike again.
“I can walk relatively well with crutches," he told VTM. "This morning I went to the physiotherapist for the first time and I was able to do a few small exercises. I’ll see the physiotherapist again tomorrow. We’ll gradually build up so that I can start cycling again."
The hospital that carried out the surgery, AZ St Elisabeth in Herentals, has said "a full recovery is expected".
Merckx also had a major bowel operation back in March, and as far as he was concerned he said, he would be very happy to see the new year as quickly as possible and to leave 2024 behind.
