A day after falling off his bicycle and fracturing his hip, Eddy Merckx underwent surgery Tuesday at AZ St.-Elisabeth Herentals Hospital in Belgium, where “a full recovery is expected,” medical staff said.

Doctors performed a total hip replacement for Merckx's dislocated right hip fracture, according to a report released by Herentals Hospital. Merckx will be under medical supervision for at least one night before beginning rehabilitation on Wednesday.

Merckx spoke to several Belgian media outlets from his hospital room and told Sporza, “I feel much better than yesterday. I have very little pain in my hip at the moment.”

Speaking to HLN.com after the surgery, the 79-year-old assessed his situation with a bit of humor: “I'm very happy. So far the pain is not too bad. Yesterday it was bad, but after the surgery it's better.”

“It was a stupid fall. But it can happen to anyone. Still, next time I will ride with two training wheels."

On Monday, Merckx was riding his bike at Bankstraat in Hombeek, west of Mechelen, when his rear wheel slipped off and he hit the ground hard. The cause of the accident is not known. Bystanders came to his aid and called an ambulance.

“I fell on my buttocks and couldn't get up. I was the only one on the bicycle. Fortunately, a few bystanders stayed behind. Otherwise, it would have been a disaster. Yes, it was scary,” he admitted to HLN.com, saying that he was first taken to a medical facility in Mechelen and then transferred to Herentals because he wanted to be treated by Dr. Steven Kress.

The total hip replacement was performed Tuesday at AZ Herentals by Dr. Kress and Dr. Mike Tengletenhuysen.

“The surgery went very smoothly and a full recovery is expected. Eddy Merckx will now stay in the hospital at least overnight to recover,” a statement from the hospital was posted on HLN.com. [He will begin rehabilitation tomorrow, during which full support will be available immediately. Full recovery usually takes months, but fortunately for Eddy Merckx, cycling is an excellent rehab activity that can be done in just a few weeks.”

Incorporating cycling as part of the recovery process should not be a difficult prescription for Merckx, who is considered one of the most successful professional riders of all time. Five times in the Tour de France, five times in the Giro d'Italia, and once in the Vuelta a España. He also won five Monument Classics and three road world championships before retiring in 1978.

Dr. Steven Claes is the orthopedic surgeon who repaired Lemco Evenpoel's broken collarbone in a crash at Iturria Basque in April. He also diagnosed Wout Van Art's knee injury from his crash at the Vuelta a España in September.

It was his brother, Dr. Tom Klaas, who surgically repaired Van Aert's collarbone after he crashed at the Dwar do Hlaanderen in April.