Having maintained connections with Bulgaria since his first visit in 2005, Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx returned over the weekend of February 28 to March 2 2008, this time for a bit more than giving the start signal at the Slunchev Bryag Grand Prix.
Again at the invitation of Nessebur Cycling Club, Merckx came to Bulgaria to join in the club’s fifth birthday celebrations, to open the newest location of Velomania, and, more significantly, to talk about the upcoming construction of a velodrome in Plovdiv. Christened after the five-time Tour de France winner (1969-72, 1974) and six-time Belgian Sportsman of the Year (1969-74), the covered multifunctional sport complex will cost about four to 4.5 million euro and should hold 4000 to 7000 spectators. It was designed by Sander Douma and Todor Abadjiev, and when it is completed – a date that original reports set at autumn 2008, it will be the largest sporting centre in Bulgaria. Information to this effect was published by stroitelstvo.info in February 2007, following the original announcement.
Arriving at nearly midnight on February 29, Merckx spent the day that does not exist meeting with President Georgi Purvanov, followed by the ribbon-cutting of Drag Zone cycling shop in Sofia. On March 1, he was on the Black Sea coast, where, in the company of Belgian ambassador Philippe Beke, he visited the sapling-come-tree that he had planted during his visit in 2005 (with his brother Michel Merckx), met with Nessebur mayor Nikolai Dimitrov, had a wine tasting at the local Medovo Winery and attended the birthday party of Nessebur Cycling Club. Sunday morning, before catching a noon flight back to Sofia, he and Beke declared the symbolic start of the Nessebur club’s cycling season.
Later on March 2, Beke hosted an intimate lunch in Merckx’s honour at the Belgian residence in Sofia, where the man considered one of, if not the, greatest cyclists of all times told The Sofia Echo about his childhood in the Flemish part of Belgium.
Although retired from the sport, he is still called upon for comments on current sport situations – including through his mobile phone in the middle of lunch by a French journalist looking for Merckx’s forecast on an upcoming football game.
Did Merckx ever play football? “As a lad, yes,” he said.
A young lad, at that, for he started competing in cycling at the age of 16.
He has since opened a bicycle factory that manufactures racing bikes; as part of his friendship with Bulgaria, he makes this equipment available on the Bulgarian market at a price “reasonable for the Bulgarian public”, as one of the guests at the lunch put it.
Though this public is small in number, Vessela Lecheva – two-time Olympic silver medallist and five-time world champion in shooting and the current head of the Bulgarian State Agency for Youth and Sport, said that at present, there are only about 200 competitive cyclists in the country, with those considered as having serious interest in the field coming in at less than 500.
Part of Merckx’s visit included signing a second five-year agreement of co-operation with Nessebur Cycling Club, something that everyone hopes will increase the presence of the sport in Bulgaria.
