Five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx, who told the Belgian press that he is still recovering from serious head injuries sustained in a mid-October bike crash, made his first public appearance since the Belgian He made his first public appearance since the accident at the Kristallen Fietz awards ceremony in Vilvoorde, north of Brussels, on Wednesday.

Merckx attended the "Crystal Bike" awards ceremony to present the prize for best male rider to Remco Evenpole (Deceuninck-QuickStep), but prior to the awards ceremony he told Het Nieuwsblad magazine that he is still recovering from the accident and is "still not 100% He told Het Nieuwsblad prior to the award that he had only intended to be there for 30 minutes because he was still recovering from the accident and "not at 100%.

"The people from the awards organization are picking me up and then taking me home again," Merckx explained. 'I plan to stay for a maximum of half an hour, as my physical condition won't allow me to stay any longer.'

The 74-year-old Merckx, who was riding with friends on October 13, remembers little of what happened, while doctors are still unsure what happened.

"I stopped and tried to take my foot off the pedal, but I don't remember anything after that," he said.

A passing nurse helped him, and Merckx was taken to the hospital, where he stayed for five days.

"The doctors still don't know exactly what happened. They also checked his heart and it was fine," he said.

Merckx said he still has pain in his back, hips, and knees.

"I had to stay in bed for a long time after the accident, and walking is still difficult. 'So I can't say it's great. But little by little I should be able to ride my bike again, and then everything should be better."

He added that "I'm still in a lot of pain, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to ride again.