It is one of those records he would have gladly done without. Eddy Merckx, once again in the hospital, will once again have to undergo surgery on his right hip. "Since I was experiencing a lot of pain," the most successful cyclist of all time explained today to Ciro Scognamiglio of Gazzetta dello Sport, "I was admitted last Monday. The doctors cannot find the cause of this infection and since antibiotics are not very effective, they will operate on me again next Monday. I've had enough, I'm fed up with this nonsense".

The problems for the immense Belgian champion began in December 2024: he was on his bike and was on Bankstraat in Hombeeck, a small town west of the city of Mechelen. A slip in a curve and the immediate impression that something serious had happened. "Eddy understood right away that it was a fracture," his wife Claudine said at the time. "He said he felt a sharp pain". Since then he has had to undergo six surgical procedures and the one scheduled for next Monday will be the seventh: let's hope it's the definitive one.