Remco Evenepoel enjoys "nice moments" as guests of honour at Anderlecht's Europa League game alongside Eddy Merckx

The stars of Belgian cycling past and present were out for Anderlecht's UEFA Europa League game against Porto on Thursday night in Belgium as both Remco Evenepoel and Eddy Merckx took in the exciting 2-2 draw.

"It's not really a holiday anymore, but it still fits into the planning of the quiet period," the Olympic champion laughs in conversation with Belgian TV broadcasters Play Sports, from the 21,500 capacity Lotto Park. "It's a combination of training, resting and doing some things that are impossible during the season. That's why I'm here."

Arriving to the stadium in style, Evenepoel showed up in a brand new BMW M5, that he had previously shown off in a post on his official Instagram account. “Those are nice moments,” he smiles warmly when Play Sports bring up the topic of his new wheels. 

As it turned out though, Evenepoel, who was at the game as a guest of honour for the team he captained as a youth prospect, was supposed to be followed by Netflix cameras during his time at the game, although sadly that didn't eventually come to pass. "That is normally for July," he notes, referring to the Tour de France: Unchained series. "They were supposed to follow me tonight, but that was cancelled."

As mentioned, Evenepoel wasn't the only star spotted on TV cameras during the game, the greatest Belgian cyclist of all-time, five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx was present as well. The game was also quite an exciting one too, finishing 2-2. After an early Galeno penalty had given Porto a half-time lead, Tristan Degreef levelled the score before the hour mark. Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira then must have thought he'd won the tie for Porto as he put the Portuguese side back in front in the 83rd minute, only for Francis Amuzu to immediately hit back for Anderlecht, securing the Belgian's a draw in front of the two cycling icons.