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A23
SPORTS Wednesday 17 January 2018

2019 Tour will honor 1st victory of 5-time champion Merckx

By RAF CASERT
AP Sports Writer
BRUSSELS (AP) — The start of
the 2019 Tour de France will
be all about honoring Eddy
Merckx in his hometown of
Brussels.
Merckx, known as “The
Cannibal” for his ferocious
taste for victory, won the
first of his five Tours in 1969.
Half a century later, the Bel-
gian great still sees it as one
of the major accomplish-
ments for a cyclist gener-
ally considered to be the
greatest ever.
“I wore the yellow jersey 96
times. It is the best memory
of my career. It still gives me
goosebumps,” Merckx said
during Tuesday’s presenta-
tion of the Grand Depart
— the opening weekend of
the three-week Tour.
Merckx also won a re-
cord 34 Tour stages and is
among four riders who won
the Tour a record five times. classic. The Wall will come
French riders Jacques An- early but the stage, which
quetil and Bernard Hinault, makes a big loop south of
and Spanish great Miguel Brussels, is still set up for a
Indurain are the others. sprint finish close to the roy-
Tour organizers said it will be al palace.
the second time the race It will also have its stretch
will set off from the Belgian of famed Flemish cobble-
capital, which hosted the stones and will pass through
race’s Grand Depart in the hometown of soccer
1958. player Eden Hazard.
The 2019 race will also mark The second stage will be a
100 years since the race 28-kilometer team time trial
leader’s yellow jersey was through the Belgian capital
created. along its wide-open bou-
When it comes to the first levards. The riders will also
two stages on July 6-7, the pass by St. Pieters-Woluwe
iconic Wall of Geraardsber- in suburban Brussels, where
gen climb should take cen- Merckx lived as a child and
ter stage. where he got to pull on his
The 192-kilometer (119- first yellow jersey.
mile) first stage of the Tour From Brussels, it is an easy
will have the Wall, for de- trek south into nearby
cades the toughest climb France for the rest of the
in the Ronde of Flanders race.q