![\"Eddy](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2219140555.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBelgian great Merckx has faced several health challenges in recent years with another operation likely.<\/p>\n
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Eddy Merckx pictured meeting King Philippe of Belgian king for his 80th Birthday on June 12, 2025 in Laeken, Belgium. (Photo: Thierry Monasse\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Published April 11, 2026 09:40AM<\/p>\n
Eddy Merckx<\/a> will find out Sunday if Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> is indeed moving closer to the title of GOAT, something Merckx has been regarded as for many decades, but the Slovenian is far from his biggest concern right now.<\/p>\n The 80 year old has been wrestling with health issues for several years and is likely facing another hip operation due to ongoing complications.<\/p>\n In all the Belgian has undergone four previous surgeries on that area, with the first as a result of a crash in December 2024.<\/p>\n He was training near Mechelen in Belgium when he fell crossing railway lines in Hombeek.<\/p>\n The circumstances of that crash were a big scare.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring my bike ride, it suddenly started to drizzle,\u201d he told VTM Niews<\/a> at the time. \u201cI slid with my rear wheel. I fell right on my right thigh and knew immediately that it was a fracture.<\/p>\n \u201cI was panicking, because I was lying on the train tracks. I made signs, but at first no one came to help. I couldn\u2019t straighten up.\u201d<\/p>\n Merckx was ultimately helped by a motorcyclist plus two other people, but lying helpless on railway tracks was very concerning.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, the barriers were open at that time. But you never know if they suddenly close,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Four new hips Merckx had already experienced a health scare earlier that year, undergoing emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction in March 2024. That led to a meter and a half of intestine being removed.<\/p>\n He said he was determined to get back on his bike following the hip operation, but things have unfortunately been complicated since then.<\/p>\n He underwent three further surgeries, as he recently mentioned to Het Nieuwsblad.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been given a new hip four times: once a provisional, three so-called a \u2018definitive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least twice a week I go to Lieven Maesschalck [an elite physiotherapist] in Antwerp, and then another two times to a physiotherapist nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n Merckx also had a minor stroke in August 2025. This has complicated his weekly treatments.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that I always have to be driven around. By my wife, by my daughter, sometimes by Axel [his son \u2013 ed.]. I\u2019m not allowed to drive because of that stroke. First you have to wait six months and then you need another check-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Merckx\u2019s latest health complication began on March 30.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a new infection in my hip. I was in an incredible amount of pain,\u201d he told Het Nieuwsblad<\/a>. \u201cThey tried to solve the problem with a heavy course of antibiotics, but it isn\u2019t entirely effective. Presumably, they are going to operate on me again on Monday. The struggling can stop now, I\u2019m fed up.\u201d<\/p>\n A place in history In that context, the question about whether or not Poga\u010dar is a better rider than Merckx is not a pressing concern. Comparisons have been made for years, although Merckx is still way ahead of the Slovenian in terms of the number of victories.<\/p>\n
\n![\"King](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2219147608.jpg\"\/)
King Philippe meets Eddy Merckx on the occasion of his 80th birthday on June 12, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium (Photo: Dirk Waem \/ Pool \/ Photonews via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Tadej](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269935570-1.jpg\"\/)
Tadej Pogacar during a reconnaissance of Paris-Roubaix on April 9, 2026 (Photo: Francois Lo Presti \/ AFP)<\/p>\n