The story of Frans who simply adores his hero Eddy
The Tour of Flanders and Frans Lookalike Eddy Merckx
Some of the retro bikes in Frans’es collection..they are exact copies of the real ones.

Have a look at this video, it is the story of complete adoration, I have translated as much possible below as it tells the story of a superfan

The story started when Frans was 16 and a big fan of Eddy, he dabbled a bit in races as an U/16 and junior but his work prevented him to carry on, but as many kept following the races, and kept collecting jerseys, and anything related to Merckx. In 2004 Frans got a dream (some religious people would say “a call from God”) which told him to be like Merckx in all aspects and that morning he became Eddy. He starts eating like him, training like him, working on his bike like him and became him, his family amused, his daughters grew up with his obsession and didn’t mind, but his loving wife was sometimes in despair as he even asked his wife to call him Eddy instead of Frans ( a true story!!) He started building bikes in his shed that was an exact copy of Eddy’s shed (he had a book with photos which he copied in all his work) The bike’s Lookalike, his appearance lookalike, his training of 6 hours a day (mostly after his work in a factory) his race clothing, his energy intake ( in the video at the breakfast table Frans (oops Eddy) cracked an egg and added to his Rodenbach beer just like Eddy) basically he was now Eddy and that into the smallest detail. His wife thinks he became mentally unstable and hard to live with, his daughters even got ridiculed by people, many people did and still do but he also had the support of people who loved the way he is…many ex-pro’s like Freddy Maertens as his fans. But Frans keeps it going despite the laughter of many, but Frans said that he wants to feel like Eddy who got a lot of critics too and praises of others. He does a one-man show to entertain the crowds at Kermesses which he got invited to, and Belgian TV stations start filming his story (as above by Channel 4) He also entertains the crowds with local laps while they are waiting for the pro’s at big pro kermesses and has an enormous following in my homeland, but also the same amount of haters…well I am a fan and always gonna be grateful to Frans as he has also an enormous heart, helping out local charities.
Crazy maybe…judge for yourselves
Frans was in action at a benefit evening for David Montgomery who was racing the UCI CX calendar in Belgium at the time (2015) This was held in the Music pub t’Lusterke, the supporters club of the Belgian Project in Wervik West Flanders. The pub was full to his rafters as Frans is a very well known character in Belgian racing. He does a one-man show with his own CD as back up, goes on the rollers and sings along to the delight of his fans. As we met each other a few times before I had invited him to the fundraiser and he said yes…he didn’t want any payment except a bit of petrol money and some free drinks (his favourite tipple is Rodenbach, a local red craft beer) which the owner of t’Lusterke Antony Verschaeve gladly provided and after a few of them, and a puncture, Frans fell nearly over on the rollers…lol…yep he is Belgian alright. The crowd loved it and so did we..what an entertainer!!
He is definitely looking like his hero
If Eddy can win 5 times the TDF Frans can drink 5 West Vleteren (strongest Belgian Trappist 12%) lol
Frans is seen here with Freddy Maertens ( multiple world champ & grand tour stage winner and green jersey holder) at a charity due
My favourite photo of Frans Lookalike Eddy Merckx, with a retro woolly jersey of the Belgian National jersey of the 60-70 ties
Frans and his painted ladies, a controversial photo maybe but look at the details, just amazing lol…and did you know that Frans also has Irish connections, he has an anty living in the Wicklow area as the Geldof name is a name who appears here too ( Sir Bob Geldhof as an example) maybe this explains the madness of it all but to myself a very welcomed madness as I have some episodes of that too..lol, after all, it promotes our beloved sport with a smile!!
Frans with TDF 2019 winner Egal Bernal at one of the after tour criteriums in the Flanders