Cycling legend Eddie Merckx recovering after bike fall

BRUSSELS: Cycling legend Eddy Merckx, 74, was out of intensive care on Monday after being treated for a serious head injury suffered when he fell from his bike.

The five-time Tour de France winner was hurt Sunday during a bike outing with friends and taken to hospital in Dendermonde, near Ghent in Belgium, Het Nieuwsblad newspaper reported Monday.

Stephane Thirion, the rider´s friend and biographer, told AFP in the evening that Eddy Merckx had "left the intensive care unit".

The hospital declined to comment.

Earlier, former Anderlecht footballer Paul Van Himst, a long-time friend of the cyclist, told local television: "I contacted his wife Claudine yesterday. She said he is doing well given the circumstances."