Long-time friends Jacky Ickx and Eddy Merckx have not only shared the affections of decades of Belgian and international sports fans, but also their birth year.
Former motorcycle, Formula 1, Le Mans, Sports Car and Paris-Dakar racer Ickx turned 70 on New Year’s Day this year, and Eddy Merckx will celebrate his 70th birthday on 17 June.
The Merckx-Ickx Expo honours both men with a superb exhibition of significant bikes, cars, personal and fan memorabilia, photographs, newspaper cuttings and old films. It's all set in a brilliantly designed display within part of the Trade Mart Brussels in Belgium.
The Expo has been open since December, and will remain in place until 21 June 2015.
For any cycling fan, however much you think you know about Merckx, the Expo is well worth a visit to see so much of Eddy’s personal history displayed in such a coherent, informative fashion.
Take a look through our gallery for a taste of what you could see.
Our favourite section was the re-creation of a typical belgian fans bar, full of period merckx memorabilia, and the great man himself!:
With features like this recreation of a typical Belgian sports bar, the Merckx-Ickx Expo is a trip back in time (nevermind the mobile phone in the great man's hand)
Robin Wilmott is a freelance writer and bike tester. He began road cycling in 1988 and, with mountain bikes in their infancy, mixed experimental off-road adventures with club time trials and road races. Cyclocross soon became a winter staple and has remained Robin's favourite form of competition. Robin has always loved the technical aspect of building and maintaining bikes, and several years working in a bike shop only amplified that. Robin was a technical writer for BikeRadar for nearly a decade, and has tested hundreds of bikes and products for the site. He has also written extensively for Cycling Plus, Velonews and Cyclingnews.
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