Eddy Merckx does not often make himself heard. The greatest of all time doesn’t like to be in the spotlight and when he does appear in front of the camera, he doesn’t have much to say. However, Johan Bruyneel managed to interview Merckx for half an hour.
That interview took place in the living room at the Merckx home. It was recorded for his intestinal operation, because Merckx has lost a lot of weight after he underwent emergency surgery on March 26 due to a tilted intestine.
Bruyneel asked Merckx, among other things, his most feared opponent. “That depends. In the lap work it was Gimondi, Ocaña and then Thévenet in the beginning. In the Giro it was Fuente. I had to grit my teeth to surprise him, because uphill he rode a little faster than me.”
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Throughout his career, Gimondi was his biggest rival. “I raced against Gimondi for the first time at the 1963 World Championships in Ronse. I had just turned professional, he had already won the Tour and Paris-Roubaix. It wasn’t until ’68 that I started beating him. Throughout my entire career, Gimondi was the most consistent rider I raced against.”
Merckx is still very popular among his former colleagues. “I still regularly cycle with ex-teammates and I have a good relationship with my old rivals. When your career is over you have to have appreciation for your opponents. I think that’s normal.”
Current generation
Which rider from the current generation will appeal to him most? “Pogacar. He won the Tour, but also many classics such as the Tour of Flanders. And of course also Van Aert and Van der Poel. Vingegaard is almost unbeatable at the moment in the tour. These are riders I look at. And of course Also Evenepoel. He is also a very strong rider of his generation. He still has to improve, but he is a great talent.”
A big difference from the past is that riders now ride far fewer races and focus much more on a specific goal. Merckx thinks that’s a shame. “I had a love for cycling. If I couldn’t participate in a classic… I don’t think I would have fit into the current peloton.”
‘I enjoyed racing too much’
“Now riders have to focus too much on specific races, in particular the Tour or the classics. I enjoyed racing too much. Vingegaard focuses exclusively on the Tour, but there is more to cycling than the Tour. It cannot be that you in July still bearing the consequences of an effort in March?
“I was always better if I had ridden the Giro because you were in the high mountains and lost weight. Then I was better prepared for the Tour de France.”
“I wouldn’t really like to race today because I wouldn’t be able to ride that many races. Racing is fun. I also liked to train, but always train for a race… When you race you also build your fitness. Today they ride 80 races. I still rode a season with 195 racing days. You cannot compare those eras.”
Very young professionals
Another remarkable evolution in the peloton is the fact that riders are signing their first professional contracts at an increasingly younger age. Remco Evenepoel was only 19 when he rode his first professional race. Juan Ayuso was only 18 and the barely 17-year-old Albert Philipsen is stuck at Lidl-Trek until 2028 (!).
“Many young professionals are actually not ready for professional life,” says De Kannibaal. “If you are an exceptional talent you can of course skip categories, but not everyone is an exception. You have to go step by step. If you skip steps, you can burn yourself and your career will be over quickly.”
“Times have of course changed, but I never rode a stage race before I became a professional. Not everyone is capable of going from juniors straight to pros and competing in the World Cup. A promising team is very important for cycling. “
