"Next time I will ride with two training wheels” - Eddy Merckx makes light of recent crash after successful surgery on broken hip

Earlier this week, five-time Tour de France champion, 79-year-old Eddy Merckx crashed hard whilst riding his bike near his Belgian home. After undergoing successful surgery for a broken hip tough, the Belgian seemed to be in high spirits.

“On the railway in Hombeek my rear wheel suddenly slid away,” Merckx explained to HLN about the exact details surrounding the accident. “I fell on my hip and couldn’t get up. I was on the road alone by bike. Fortunately, a few bystanders have remained. Otherwise, it would have been a disaster. I was scared, yes.”

Emergency services rushed to Merckx's aid, taking him to hospital in an ambulance, where a broken hip was diagnosed. “Merckx has suffered a displaced fracture to the right hip. It was a typical and common fracture of the so-called 'femoral neck,'” a statement from the hospital said. “As a treatment, Dr. Mike Tengrootenhuysen and Prof. Dr. Steven Claes placed a total hip prosthesis this afternoon in AZ Herentals, in which the damaged hip joint was replaced by means of a muscle-sparing technique (‘direct anterior approach’). 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.”

As mentioned though, the near-80-year-old is thankfully still in high spirits despite this crash coming just months after he was hospitalised for an emergency bowel operation. “The doctor told me that the operation went well,” he says. “They gave me a new hip. The pain is not too bad at the moment. Yesterday it was huge, but with the operation it is better. But it can indeed happen to anyone. Still, next time I will ride with two training wheels.”

“Tomorrow (Wednesday – ed.) his rehabilitation will start, where full support is possible immediately, so that most patients are quickly back on their feet," the hospital statement adds. “The full recovery usually takes several months, but fortunately for Eddy Merckx, cycling is an excellent rehabilitation activity that is allowed after just a few weeks.”