Merckx has condemned doping but he tested positive three times.[5] The first time was in the 1969 Giro d'Italia[6] where he tested positive for the stimulant Reactivan at Savona, after leading the race through 16 stages. He was expelled from the Giro. The controversy began to swirl when his test results were not handled in the correct manner; they were released to the press before all parties involved (Merckx and team officials) were notified.[43] Merckx was very upset, and to this day, protests his innocence.[6] He argued there were no counter-experts nor counter-analysis. He said the stage during which he was allegedly using drugs was easy so there was no need. He said:
At the time, the controls weren't reliable and I wasn't able to defend myself. They had started on the analysis and the counter-analysis during the night, without anyone from my team's being present. They had, they said, tried to get my manager, Vincenzo Giacotto, by phone, but he hadn't left his room all evening. The following morning, I was in my racing clothes, ready to leave, when they came to tell me I was positive and therefore excluded from the Giro.[6]
"I've never seen sporting opinion so inflamed," wrote Marcel De Leener from Belgium. "Even members of parliament have got themselves involved in the affair; the Opposition has questioned the minister of public health in the Lower Chamber, the Cabinet is in an uproar, the Foreign Minister has questioned his opposite number in Italy. In the streets, in factories, in offices, in public transport, they talk of little else."[44] The Italian federation stuck by its findings but the Belgians refused to agree and it took four hours of debate in Brussels for the professional section of the Union Cycliste Internationale to quash his sentence. The president of the Fédération Internationale du Cyclisme Professional was Félix Lévitan, organiser of the Tour de France. It was diplomacy and, "let us be frank, hypocrisy too", reported Cycling.[45] The hearing praised the Italians and accepted their evidence; however, Merckx was cleared to ride the Tour.
Prince Albert of Belgium sent a plane to bring him to Belgium.
Merckx was also found positive after winning the Giro di Lombardia in 1973.[6] He had taken Mucantil (Iodinated glycerol).[46]
It was Dr Cavalli, of Molteni, who prescribed it to me a bit lightly [un peu légèrement]. And he admitted his error publicly. Looking back, I can't see why they could disqualify me for such a ridiculous and inoffensive product as norephedrine."[6]
Then he was caught after taking Stimul (pemoline) in the 1977 Flèche Wallonne. Merckx said:
"That, I can't deny. I was positive along with around 15 others. I was wrong to trust a doctor."[6]
In 1974, a Belgian biochemist, Professor Michel Debackere, perfected a test for a group of piperidine stimulant drugs (Lidepran, Meratran, and Ritalin) which were used by pro cyclists. Since they were now detectable, this group of drugs fell out of favor within the pro peloton, and some riders instead used pemoline, another amphetamine-like drug. Then in 1977, Debackere once again developed a new drug test, which could detect pemoline. This test caught three of the biggest names in Belgium: Merckx, Freddy Maertens and Michel Pollentier.[47]
The World Anti-Doping Agency removed norephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, from the list of banned drugs in 2004;[6] however, this drug is currently on the WADA list of banned substances and therefore would garner a suspension of current riders.[48] Merckx said in 2007 that he wanted the Union Cycliste Internationale to give him back his victory: "I was disqualified for taking a syrup which had been taken off the list of forbidden products." At the time, 1973, banned drugs were listed individually; they were later classed by category.
Because of his doping record, the organisers of the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart asked Merckx to stay away. The decision was criticized in the press and by the UCI.[49] When he confirms his stance against doping, Merckx points out that cycling is unfairly treated compared to other sports.
In the 1990s, he became a friend of Lance Armstrong, and supported him when Armstrong was accused of drug use, stating he rather "believed what Lance told him than what appeared in newspapers". Dr. Michele Ferrari claimed that Merckx introduced him to Armstrong in 1995
Vandeweghe is trouwens ongeveer de enige die tevreden is over het interview van Armstrong.