A day after fracturing his hip from a fall on his bike, Eddy Merckx has come through successful surgery at AZ St.-Elisabeth Herentals Hospital in Belgium on Tuesday, with the medical staff saying "a full recovery is expected".
According to a report released by Herentals hospital, doctors performed a total hip replacement for Merckx's displaced fracture of the right hip, which they referred to as "a common fracture". Merckx will remain under medical supervision for at least one night before beginning rehabilitation on Wednesday.
Merckx has responded to several Belgian media outlets from his hospital room, saying to Sporza, "I feel much better than yesterday. At the moment I have very little pain in my hip".
In a conversation with HLN.com after the procedure, the 79-year-old imparted a bit of humour in his assessment of his situation, "They gave me a new hip. The pain is not too bad at the moment. Yesterday it was terrible, but it's better since the surgery.
"It was a stupid fall. But it can indeed happen to anyone. Still, next time I will ride with two training wheels.”
On Monday, Merckx was riding his bike on Bankstraat in Hombeek, on the west side of Mechelen, when his rear wheel slipped out and he hit the ground hard. He said that he did not know what caused the crash. Bystanders came to his aid and called for an ambulance.
"I fell on my hip and could not stand up. I was alone on the bike. Fortunately a few bystanders stayed. Otherwise it would have been a disaster. I was scared, yes," he admitted to HLN.com, saying he was first taken to a medical facility in Mechelen, then was moved to Herentals as he requested treatment from Dr Steven Claes.
The total hip replacement was performed Tuesday by Dr Claes and Dr Mike Tengrootenhuysen at AZ Herentals.
"The operation went very smoothly and a full recovery is expected. Eddy Merckx will now stay in the hospital for at least one night to recover from the procedure,” a statement from hospital read, which was posted by HLN.com.
"Tomorrow his rehabilitation will begin, during which full support will be possible immediately, which means that most patients are back on their feet quickly. Full recovery usually takes a few months, but fortunately for Eddy Merckx, cycling is an excellent rehabilitation activity that is allowed after just a few weeks.”
To include cycling as part of the recovery process should not be a difficult prescription to fill for Merckx, who is considered to be one of the most successful professional riders of all time. The Belgian great amassed 11 Grand Tour wins - Tour de France five times, Giro d'Italia five times and the Vuelta a España once. He also won all five Monument Classics and collected three road world championships before he retired in 1978.
Dr Steven Claes is the same orthopedic surgeon who repaired Remco Evenepoel's fractured collarbone in April, which he suffered in a crash at Itzulia Basque Country. He also assessed Wout van Aert's knee wound after the Visma-Lease a Bike rider had crashed out of the Vuelta a España in September, with surgery not required in that situation.
It was his brother, Dr Tom Claes, who surgically repaired Van Aert's collarbone after a crash in April at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
