Eddy Merckx - Retirement

Retirement

Merckx's last victory was a criterium at Kluisbergen on 17 July 1977. His last race was the Omloop van het Waasland, at Kemzeke on 19 March 1978. He finished 12th. He had already abandoned the Omloop Het Volk, exhausted. His sponsor, the clothing chain, C&A, had supported his team only after long and difficult negotiations and did not intend to continue next season. Merckx told his soigneur, Pierrot De Wit, during their journey home that he had ridden his last race. De Wit argued but Merckx announced his decision at a press conference in Brussels on 18 May 1978. Merckx said:

I am living the most difficult day of my life. I can no longer prepare myself for the Tour de France, which I wanted to ride for a final time as a farewell . After consulting my doctors, I've decided to stop racing.

Having retired, Merckx has a bicycle factory which carries his name. He said:

I am certain that the bicycle will once more fill a social role and again become a means of transport and not just an object of leisure. Once cars had chased it out of towns and, for several years, the concern of our leaders was to make it easier to drive cars by enlarging roads and leaving space for nobody else. Now they're in the process of undoing all that and, even if the change varies from country to country, I can see that there is a whole new way of political thinking. In Germany, Belgium and the countries of the north, the changes are already visible. In the Latin countries it's an idea that's making progress.

Merckx is a race commentator on RTBF television. He was coach of the Belgian national cycling team during the mid-90s, and part of the Belgian Olympic Committee. Merckx is still asked to comment as an authority. As such, he was advisor for the Tour of Qatar in 2002. He lives in Meise, Vlaams-Brabant.