Axel Merckx

Personal information
Full name	Axel Merckx
Date of birth	August 8, 1972 (1972-08-08) (age 34)
Country	Belgium
Height	1.91 m
Weight	77 kg
Team information
Current team	T-Mobile
Discipline	Road
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)
1993 1994 1995-1996 1997-1998 1999-2000 2001-2002 2003-2005 2006 2007	Motorola Telekom Motorola Polti Mapei Domo-Farm Frites Davitamon-Lotto Phonak Hearing Systems T-Mobile
Major wins
Giro d'Italia, 1 stage GP de Wallonie (2001) Tour de l'Ain (2003) National Champion (2000)
Infobox last updated on:
February 16, 2007

Axel Merckx (born August 8, 1972 in Uccle, Belgium), is a professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam T-Mobile Team. Since he began his professional career in 1993, he has won an Olympic Bronze medal and competed in 8 Tours de France, finishing in 6 as the highest-placed Belgian rider. During the 2006 Tour he announced that he signed a new contract for one extra season with Phonak, (to be renamed iShares). He also mentioned that this will be his last season as a professional road bicycle racer. However, after Phonak announced that it would stop sponsoring the cycling team, Merckx signed a contract with T-Mobile Team, the same team where he started his professional career. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 399 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (802 × 1206 pixel, file size: 178 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Uccle/Ukkel within the Brussels-Capital Region Uccle (French) or Ukkel (Dutch) is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. ... Road bicycle racing is a popular bicycle racing sport held on the road (following the geography of the area), using racing bicycles. ... The UCI ProTour is a competition under the International Cycling Union (UCI). ... Presentation of the 2006 team in Mallorca. ... The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. ...

Despite several strong years of racing, including winning the Belgian national championship in 2000, Merckx is probably still more famous for being the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx than for any of his cycling exploits. Despite being overshadowed by his father's formidable record, Merckx has repeatedly vowed to make his mark by accomplishing feats Eddy never managed - including a Tour de France stage win at the top of Alpe d'Huez and a win in the Paris-Tours World Cup race - but has yet to make good on these promises. He has a large number of fans in Belgium, and would undoubtedly engender a great deal more goodwill if he were ever to achieve either of those elusive wins. The Tour de France is the worlds best-known cycling race, a three-week-long road race that covers a circuit of most areas around France, and sometimes neighbouring countries. ... Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx (IPA: ) (born June 17, 1945, Meensel-Kiezegem, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium) was a Belgian professional cyclist. ... Alpe dHuez is a mountain in the Central French Alps, located on the territory of the commune of Huez, in the Isère département. ... Paris-Tours is a French single day classic cycling race which takes place in October towards the end of the European season. ...

One place where he has overshadowed his father is at the Olympic Games. Merckx won the bronze medal in the road race during the 2004 Games in Athens. In the final kilometre, he moved off the bunch with a canny move, thus getting a result his father never accomplished. The five Olympic rings were designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and debuted at the Games at Antwerp, 1920. ... Mens Road Race at the 2004 Summer Olympics (Cycling): In a race that showed numerous break away attempts, it wasnt until Paolo Bettini and Sergio Paulinho broke away from the group with a couple of laps remaining and opened up a comfortable gap on the final lap that... (Redirected from 2004 Summer Olympic Games) The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, commonly known as the 2004 Summer Olympics were the 28th Summer Olympic Games. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα - Athína) is the largest city and capital of Greece, located in the Attica periphery of central Greece. ...

A good climber, Merckx is probably at his best in the mid-altitude mountain ranges, notably the Massif Central and the Ardennes. His favorite race, and the one he feels best in, is Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He is also always aiming for a Tour de France stage win, and can often be found in long breaks. His sprinting capacities are not that strong, so he is often beaten at the finish. A climbing specialist is a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads, such as those found among hills or mountains. ... The Himalaya as seen from the International Space Station A mountain range is a group of mountains bordered by lowlands or separated from other mountain ranges by passes or rivers. ... France, viewed from the NASA Shuttle Topography Radar Mission. ... The Ardennes (pronounced ar-DEN) (Dutch: Ardennen) is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes département and the Champagne-Ardenne région). ... Liège-Bastogne-Liège, often called La Doyenne (the oldest woman), is one of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar, and the oldest. ... Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi beating Óscar Freire at a stage of the 2005 Tirreno-Adriatico. ...

Merckx married Canadian triathlete Jodi Cross in 1997, and currently resides in Monaco. He has two children, Axana and Athina Grace (born June 30, 2005). The three events of the triathlon (from left to right): Swimming, cycling, running Triathlon is an athletic event consisting of swimming, cycling and running over various distances. ...

2005 Tour de France

In the 2005 Tour de France Merckx finished 39th in the General Classification, as best-placed Belgian. In breakaways and when blocking the peloton together with his team, he often sets the tempo, both for his personal honor and to serve the team. Like 2004, in 2005 Davitamon-Lotto focused on the green jersey (Robbie McEwen) and on a top-ten place (Cadel Evans), so Axel's role became more that of a super-domestique, fetching bidons and keeping his team-mates out of the wind. The 92nd Tour de France was held from July 2 to July 24, 2005. ... The General Classification (or GC) in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races. ... Road bicycle racing is a popular bicycle racing sport held on roads (following the geography of the area), using racing bicycles. ... Robbie McEwen (born June 24, 1972, Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian professional road bicycle racer, specializing in fast sprint finishes. ... Cadel Evans (born 14 February 1977 in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia) is a professional cyclist. ... A domestique is a road bicycle racer who works solely for the benefit of his or her team and leader. ...

There were two stages very important for Merckx: stage 12 (Briançon - Digne-les-Bains) on July 14 (Bastille Day), because his father won that same stage on July 9, 1969, and stage 18 (Albi - Mende) on July 21, the Belgian national holiday. 2005 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21. ... July 14 is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Champs-Élysées decorated with flags for the 14 July. ... The 1969 Tour de France was the 56th Tour de France, taking place June 28 to July 20, 1969. ... 2005 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21. ... July 21 is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Stage 12 saw an initial escape with Merckx in it. Later Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady joined in, and on the Col du Corobin it was Merckx's task to keep the pace up by breaking away and throw them off to minimize McEwen's green jersey point loss. At the same time, the Davitamon-Lotto domestiques like Johan Vansummeren, Christophe Brandt and Mario Aerts rode fast (this might seem a strange tactic), to catch Hushovd and O'Grady. After the sprinters were left behind, Merckx tried to focus on the stage win, but on the top of the Col du Corobin David Moncoutié broke away, and raced to the finish. Merckx finished 7th, but might have kept up with Moncoutié if he hadn't spent his energy on throwing both sprinters off. Thor Hushovd (born January 18, 1978 in Grimstad, Norway) is a professional road bicycle racer, presently rider for the Crédit Agricole Professional team. ... Stuart OGrady is an Australian cyclist, born on 6 August 1973 in Adelaide, South Australia. ... Johan Van Summeren (born 4th February 1981 in Lommel) is a Belgian road racing cyclist who rides for the Davitamon-Lotto team in the UCI ProTour. ... Christophe Brandt (born May 6, 1977 in Liège) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Predictor-Lotto. ... Mario Aerts (born 31 December 1974 Herentals, Belgium) is a professional road bicycle racer since 1997. ... // Biography David Moncoutié (born April 30 1975 in Provins, France) is a professional cyclist. ...

In stage 18, on the very steep finish at Mende-Aérodrome, Merckx, together with Cédric Vasseur and Marcos Serrano, dropped the other members of the breakaway, but later was dropped himself by a very strong Serrano, who took the victory. Merckx was disappointed (by showing a hand gesture) in Vasseur, who unchivalrously took the 2nd place (without even sprinting) before a pretty exhausted Merckx, because he did nearly no work during the breakaway and "stole" the victory. The Mende are a large tribe (population approximately 700,000) living primarily in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. ... Cédric Vasseur is a French professional cyclist. ... Marcos Antonio Serrano Rodríguez (born 8 September 1972) is a professional cyclist from Pontevedra, Spain. ...

Palmarès

Cycling has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. ... The ceremony for the lighting of the flame is arranged as a pagan pageant, with priestesses dancing. ... Mens Road Race at the 2004 Summer Olympics (Cycling): In a race that showed numerous break away attempts, it wasnt until Paolo Bettini and Sérgio Paulinho broke away from the group with a couple of laps remaining and opened up a comfortable gap on the final lap... The Clasica San Sebastian is a bicycle race held every summer since 1981 in the Basque region of Spain. ... The 1998 Tour de France was marred by doping scandals throughout, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet a soigneur in the French Festina team. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... The Giro dItalia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy. ... Paris-Nice, nicknamed the race to the sun, is an annual professional cycling stage race held annually each March. ... The Vuelta a Andalucía (English: Tour of Andalucía) or Ruta del Sol (English: Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race. ... Image File history File links Med_3. ... Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics was split into three categories: Road, held on the streets of Athens. ... The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. ...

External links

• Palmarès at Trap-Friis.dk