Cycling, Merckx on Van Looy: “A great opponent”

Rome, 19 December 2024 - Rivals, never friends and perhaps at times even sporting enemies, but with the greatest possible respect: intercepted by the microphones of Belgian Press, Eddy Merckx talked about his relationship with Rik Van Looy, passed away yesterday after a short illness.

Merckx's statements

 "He was a great champion. I knew he hadn't been well lately and I was sorry. He was one of the best runners of the Belgium and for me he was a great opponent": these are the first words of the Cannibal, which together with the late 'Emperor of Herentals' and Roger De Vlaeminck he won all the Classical Monument. "If I had to compete today against Rik, I would know that he is not a rival like the others. His strength and his will to win are qualities that will always remain in my memory. It was very difficult to race against him. At the beginning of my career - continues Merckx - he was a formidable opponent and I had to fight hard to beat him. But all in all I'm happy to have had the chance to compete with such a rival". In the meantime, not even Merckx he's doing well due to a fall from a bikewhich caused the hip fracture: fortunately, however, the greatest of all time got away with an operation and subsequent hospitalisation, while the curtain fell on the life of Van Looy has dropped in the last few hours. "I had already had the news a couple of weeks ago that things were not going well and that the direction taken was the wrong one. It would have made 91 years these days, but fate has decided differently. His death - concludes Merckx - it really hurts me."

Lemmen's 2024

 From a finished fairy tale to one that, who knows, could still have a lot to say in the world of cycling: the protagonist is Bart Lemmen, former soldier and now runner of the Visma-Lease a Bike surprised by his own performance in the 2024. "On the eve of this season I was excited to see how things would go at the World Tour. I can say, looking back, that it went much better than I expected. I made my debut at Tower Down Under and I immediately felt at home. It was a special trip, to the other side of the world, where I had never been, with a new group. I had no expectations, but I just wanted to give my best. In the end I managed to compete for the general classification and this was a great surprise. It was nice to immediately prove to myself that I could belong at this level and it was also nice to be competitive from the beginning to the end of the season". To crown these words came the unexpected call-up to the Tour de France due to the lump sum of Sepp kuss. "When I found out it was an incredible moment. I enjoyed three weeks at a very high level and sometimes I even found it hard to believe. While I was climbing the Col du Galibier I remembered being there on holiday with my wife: at the time, in 2016, I didn't race, so I never thought I'd go back there as a professional."

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