“He’s fed up with struggling like this” - Eddy Merckx returns home after month-long hospital stay following latest surgery in recovery boost for cycling legend

Eddy Merckx has returned home following his latest hospital stay, marking a positive step in what has been a long and difficult recovery from ongoing hip complications.

The 80-year-old underwent surgery last month after doctors were forced to clean his artificial hip following the detection of a new bacterial infection.

The procedure went to plan, and after spending around a month in hospital, Merckx has now been discharged.

The update offers a more encouraging turn after a prolonged period of setbacks that has kept the five-time Tour de France winner in and out of hospital, with recurring infections proving particularly difficult to control.

Merckx’s current situation can be traced back to a crash in December 2024, when he fractured his hip after slipping at a level crossing. Since then, he has undergone a series of operations on the joint, with reports indicating as many as nine procedures. Doctors have now ruled out fitting a new prosthesis, placing added importance on the success of the most recent intervention in controlling the infection.

“He’s fed up with continuing to struggle like this,” his son Axel Merckx said recently. “The past two years have been particularly tough, especially for someone who has always been so active.”

That sequence of surgeries has been compounded by repeated complications around the hip area, turning what began as a single injury into a prolonged and complex recovery process.

After a month in hospital, Merckx is now back at home, with family updates suggesting a more stable phase in his recovery. A photo shared by his daughter Sabrina on social media showed the pair together enjoying time outside, offering a glimpse of normality following an extended period dominated by surgery and rehabilitation.

While his recovery remains ongoing, the latest development represents a clear step forward after a series of complications that have followed his initial injury, with the focus now shifting towards maintaining stability and avoiding further setbacks.

For Merckx, it marks a rare positive moment in a medical battle that has tested his resilience well beyond the crash that first triggered it.