On June 17th, Eddy Merckx will turn 80 years old, and the entire Belgium is working to make this birthday unforgettable. The celebrations began a few days early, and yesterday the Cannibal was received by the King of Belgium for a special gift. Inside his office at Laeken Castle, King Philippe presented Eddy Merckx with his birthday gift: a frame with three photos depicting the cycling champion in special moments with the last three kings of Belgium.

The top photo is with King Baudouin after his third Tour de France victory in 1971, the middle one with King Albert II when he was made a baron in 1996, and the bottom one with King Philippe in 2019, 50 years after his first Tour de France victory, which started from Brussels in honor of that year.

«It is a great honor to be invited here for my 80th birthday - Merckx said in a meeting with national television - Who would have ever dared to imagine this? I appreciate it very much. It's strange that people still remember me after all these years. And this makes me very happy».

Merckx arrived at Laeken Castle yesterday just after noon and, after receiving his gift, he and King Philippe took a brief walk in the castle's beautiful gardens, and the images captured the champion walking agilely next to the king. This demonstrates that the Cannibal's health issues are completely resolved. Belgium has planned numerous events until June 17th, and for some days now, shops in the municipalities of Meise and Wolvertem have launched the event "We Are All Eddy".

The windows of the most commercial streets have become true vintage postcards, with memorabilia and vintage images of the champion, who in his career won like no one else in the world. Among his achievements are 5 Giro d'Italia, 5 Tour de France and a Vuelta a España, as well as 3 World Championships and 19 Monument Classics, numbers that will be difficult to match.

On June 14th between 8 and 10 AM, there will be a celebration at the Meise Botanical Garden, and tickets to participate were sold out very quickly. Some tickets were instead inserted as prizes in radio and television shows. Other tickets were put up for grabs in some city festivals: those who wanted to win one had to record the best time in a bike roller race.

Belgium is preparing for a great celebration for its most illustrious character, and for the occasion, almost everyone has decided to go back in time, to look a little bit like the great Eddy.