{{Pyöräilijä
| ajajannimi           = Axel Merckx
| kuva                 = Axel Merckx.JPG
| kuvateksti =
|kuvan leveys =200px
| kokonimi             = 
| lempinimi            = 
| syntymäaika          = 
| maa                  = 
| pituus               = 191 cm
| paino                = 77 kg
| joukkue              = lopettanut
| laji                 = maantie
| rooli                = ajaja
| ajajatyyppi          = yleisajaja
| amatöörivuodet       = 
| amatöörijoukkueet    = 
| ammattilaisvuodet    = 1993<br>1994<br>1995&ndash;1996<br>1997&ndash;1998<br>1999&ndash;2000<br>2001&ndash;2002<br>2003&ndash;2005<br>2006<br>2007
| ammattilaisjoukkueet = Motorola<br>Telekom<br>Motorola<br>Polti<br>Mapei<br>Domo-Farm Frites<br>Davitamon-Lotto<br>Phonak Hearing Systems<br>T-Mobile
| suurimmatvoitot     = Italian ympäriajo, etappi 2000<br> maantieajon mestari 2000<br>Dauphiné Libéré, etappi 2005
| päivitetty           = 21. marraskuuta 2007
}}
'''Axel Merckx''' (s. 8. elokuuta 1972 Uccle Belgia) on entinen belgialainen kilpapyöräilijä ja maantiepyöräilyn olympiamitalisti. Hän lopetti uransa kauden 2007 jälkeen.

==Tausta==
Merckx on suuren belgialaisen kilpapyöräilylegendan Kreikassa ajetussa Ateenan XXVIII olympiakisojen maantiepyöräilyssä vuonna 2004. 

Axel Merckxilla on kaksi tytärtä, Axana (s. 2001) ja Athina (s. 2005).

==Tallit==
*1993 - Motorola 
*1994 - Telekom 
*1995 - Motorola 
*1996 - Motorola 
*1997 - Team Polti 
*1998 - Team Polti 
*1999 - Mapei 
*2000 - Mapei 
*2001 - Domo-Farm Frites 
*2002 - Domo-Farm Frites 
*2003 - Lotto - Domo 
*2004 - Lotto - Domo 
*2005 - Davitamon-Lotto 
*2006 - Phonak
*2007 - T-Mobile

==Sijoituksia==
===Tour de France===
* 1998: 10. sija
* 1999: keskeytys
* 2000: ei osallistunut
* 2001: 22. sija
* 2002: 28. sija sekä kolmas 15. etapilla
* 2003: keskeytys
* 2004: 21. sija
* 2005: 39. sija sekä kolmas 18. etapilla
* 2006: 31. sija
* 2007: 62. sija sekä toinen 18. etapilla

===Giro d'Italia===
*1997: 19. sija 
*2000: 25. sija sekä kahdeksannen etapin voitto
*2006: keskeytys
*2007: 50. sija <ref> [http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2007/classifiche/it/classifica.shtml?t=21&c=_CLGEN Giro d'Italia] Gazzetta  </ref>

===Vuelta a España===
*1995: 21. sija 
*1996: 17. sija

{{Infobox Cyclist
| ridername      = Axel Merckx
| image          = Axel Merckx.JPG<!-- this image is my one creation I give authorisation to publish Maarten Van Camp 14 may 2007 -->
| image_caption  = 
| fullname       = Axel Merckx
| nickname       =
| dateofbirth    = 
| country        = 
| height         = 1.91 m
| weight         = 77 kg
| currentteam    = Retired
| discipline     = Road
| role           = Rider
| ridertype      = All-rounder
| protourrank    =
| amateurteams   =
| amateuryears   =
| proyears       = 1993<br>1994<br>1995-1996<br>1997-1998<br>1999-2000<br>2001-2002<br>2003-2005<br>2006<br>2007
| proteams       = Motorola<br>Telekom<br>Motorola<br>Polti<br>Mapei<br>Domo-Farm Frites<br>Davitamon-Lotto<br>Phonak Hearing Systems<br>T-Mobile
| majorwins      = Giro d'Italia, 1 stage<br>GP de Wallonie (2001)<br>Tour de l'Ain (2003)<br> National Champion (2000)
| updated        = February 16, 2007
}}

'''Axel Merckx''' (born Belgian professional 2006 Tour he announced that he signed a new contract for one extra season with Phonak, (to be renamed iShares). He also mentioned that this will be his last season as a professional road bicycle racer. However, after Phonak announced that it would stop sponsoring the cycling team, Merckx signed a contract with T-Mobile Team, the same team where he started his professional career. 

Despite several strong years of racing, including winning the Belgian national championship in 2000, Merckx is probably still more famous for being the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx than for any of his cycling exploits. Despite being overshadowed by his father's formidable record, Merckx has repeatedly vowed to make his mark by accomplishing feats Eddy never managed - including a Tour de France stage win at the top of Alpe d'Huez and a win in the Paris-Tours World Cup race - but has yet to make good on these promises.  He has a large number of fans in Belgium, and would undoubtedly engender a great deal more goodwill if he were ever to achieve either of those elusive wins. 

One place where he has overshadowed his father is at the road race during the 2004 Games in Athens. In the final kilometre, he moved off the bunch with a canny move, thus getting a result his father never accomplished. Eddy Merckx was unable to compete in the Olympics through the prime of his career as it was then restricted to amateurs.

A good climber, Merckx is probably at his best in the mid-altitude sprinting capacities are not that strong, so he is often beaten at the finish.

Merckx announced that he would be retiring from professional cycling at the end of the 2007 Tour de France.<ref name="axel-retire">{{cite web
|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/news/?id=/news/2007/jul07/jul28news
|title=Merckx says farewell with final break
|date=July 28, 2007
|author=Brecht Decaluwé
|publisher=Angoulême
|accessdate=2007-07-27
}}</ref>. He cycled, and won, his last race in Lommel, Belgium in early August 2007.<ref name="axel-last-race">{{cite web
|url=http://www.davitamon-lotto.com/site2007/EN_ind_nieuws.php?id=375
|title=Axel Merckx wins after Tour criterium at Lommel
|date=August 7, 2007
|accessdate=2007-08-07
}}</ref>

Merckx married Canadian triathlete Jodi Cross in 1997, and currently resides in Kelowna B.C. He has two children, Axana and Athina Grace (born June 30, 2005).

Because his father Eddy Merckx has been made a baron (as personal title, but his nobility is hereditary), Axel Merckx also belongs to the (untitled) nobility. As such, he is officially referred to as Jonkheer Axel Merckx.<ref>[http://www.dhnet.be/print_popup.phtml?section=dhinfos&id=125476 25.000 nobles en Belgique]. La Dernière Heure / Les Sports (DH Net) July 11 2005.</ref><ref>[http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/show.pl?column&ameyeadel&print Afschaffen van de adelstand] Website of Liberales denktank.</ref><ref>[http://www.koningkeizerrijken.info/adel.htm Koning en Keizerrijken] Het geheim van de Adel.</ref> The honorific Jonkheer is roughly comparable to the British honorific "Sir". However he is not often cited like this.

==2005 Tour de France==

In the tempo, both for his personal honor and to serve the team. Like 2004, in 2005 Davitamon-Lotto focused on the green jersey (domestique, fetching bidons and keeping his team-mates out of the wind. 

There were two stages very important for Merckx: stage 12 (Briançon - Digne-les-Bains) on 1969, and stage 18 (Albi - Mende) on July 21, the Belgian national holiday.

Stage 12 saw an initial escape with Merckx in it. Later Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady joined in, and on the Col du Corobin it was Merckx's task to keep the pace up by breaking away and throw them off to minimize McEwen's green jersey point loss. At the same time, the Davitamon-Lotto domestiques like Johan Vansummeren, Christophe Brandt and Mario Aerts rode fast (this might seem a strange tactic), to catch Hushovd and O'Grady. After the sprinters were left behind, Merckx tried to focus on the stage win, but on the top of the Col du Corobin David Moncoutié broke away, and raced to the finish. Merckx finished 7th, but might have kept up with Moncoutié if he hadn't spent his energy on throwing both sprinters off.