Whodunit Wednesday: Eddy Merckx and Remco Evenepoel

Belgium and The Netherlands are cycling countries. Every Saturday and Sunday we can see the groups of cyclists flits by along our canal. When we had the dog and went walking, we always had to watch out - although you can hear these groups coming from afar. Even though they are bicycling quite fast, they seem to be going at a normal pace for them, gabbing as they pedal. 

Anyone who follows cycling knows the name Eddie Merckx. Many other names may also come to mind (from various countries), but this is the one almost every cyclist will mention. That is because he won the Giro d’Italia 5 times, The Tour de France 5 times, the Vuelta once and he was world champion 3 times. He had 521 total wins and was known as the best cyclist of his generation. 

This past year Remco Evenepoel did something amazing. In 2023 he became only the 2nd cyclist in history to win the road race and the time trial in the World Championships. At the Olympics this summer he won the gold medal at both the time trial and the road race despite getting a tire puncture. He is the first man to win both gold medals. 

Evenepoel surpassing some of what Merckx did is like when Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth. And this by a young man who was also played soccer for Anderlecht and the under 16’s for the Belgian national team before putting all of his energy into cycling. To live in a time when you see history being made is amazing.