The reigning queen of the Belgian peloton has married into cycling’s royal family. Lotte Kopecky and Axel Merckx quietly tied the knot on Tuesday morning in a small, private civil ceremony at the Bruges city hall.
The couple, who went public with their relationship early last year, intentionally kept the wedding off the hyper-obsessive Belgian media radar. And lets face it, with these genes the media is justified in their obsession. Whatever baby they poo out together will be The Prince That Was Promised.
Notably absent from the wedding celebration was Axel’s father, Eddy Merckx, whose current health conditions prevented him from attending.
Stability Breeds Speed
For Kopecky, the relationship has provided a steady anchor while she continues to lay waste to the Women’s WorldTour. She noted earlier this year that turning thirty brought a new baseline of life experience and stability, explicitly pointing out how much easier it is to shoulder the grueling reality of professional cycling when you have a partner who intrinsically understands the sport.
Merckx echoed the sentiment, pointing out the obvious but frequently ignored truth of the pro peloton. When a rider’s private life is balanced and happy, the professional results naturally follow. Given that Kopecky spent her spring casually collecting European track championships and dominating the road calendar, it is safe to say the formula is working perfectly.
While the Belgian press scrambles to catch up to the surprise ceremony, the sport’s armchair physiologists are undoubtedly already calculating the terrifying VO2 max potential of this genetic merger.
Axel Merckx vs Eddy Merckx: Who Was the Better Rider?
It’s impossible to say. While Eddy’s palmares is impressive, Axel boasts a Giro stage win, the 2000 Belgian national championships, and bronze in the 2004 Olympics. As far as we can tell, Eddy didn’t even place in the 2004 Olympics. We’re leaning Axel.
No But Seriously, Did Axel Merckx Witness Floyd Landis Pulling a Testosterone Patch off his Scrotum at the Dinner Table in the 2006 Tour de France?
We’ve been reading about the legalities of what we’re allowed to write on here and now we’re scared, so we’ll simply answer thus: if Floyd Landis did remove a testosterone patch from his scrotum during a team dinner at the 2006 Tour de France, it’s likely that Axel was present at that same dinner as a team mate. One suspects that nobody would intentionally witness such a disgusting hypothetical sight, however.
