Merckx is doing well
The cycling legend went home on Saturday, one week after the scary crash. The Belgian fell off his bike and suffered a head injury. Merckx lost consciousness for a brief moment and was given first aid by a passerby. He spent some time at the intensive care unit, while doctors investigated if a previously unknown condition made him fall. However, after many tests, Merckx was allowed to go home.
“Eddy is doing well, but he got a scare,” Merckx’s friend Paul Van Himst said to Het Laatste Nieuws. “He felt something and slipped out of his pedals for an unknown reason. When Eddy rides a bike, he no longer reflects on how much his body has lost – he always rides with a whole group that easily cycles 70km. But when I say that he will break himself, he does not want to hear that. That is his character. Don’t give up. Fortunately, he was wearing his helmet. You have to be lucky at such moments.”
Quintana’s move to Arkéa-Samsic
After eight years with the Spanish squad of Movistar, Nairo Quintana wants to find a new challenge with a new team. The 29-year-old won two Grand Tours with Movistar but still has the Tour de France as his ultimate goal.
“A coupling with his new surroundings is needed,” Emmanuel Hubert, Arkéa-Samsic’s manager, said. “But after doing excellent preparation and if the conditions are in your favour, you can become the winner of the Tour.”
“Of course, Movistar played an important role in Nairo’s career. It is not easy to make the decision to leave a team with which things worked well, but I think Quintana’s desire to leave Movistar was well established. He wanted to find new air and a team that had new proposals and challenges.”
Do you think Quintana has got what it takes to win the Tour?
