After an initial agreement between the organisers of Paris-Brussels and the GP Eddy Merckx in March, which foresaw the fusion of the two events under the name of "GP Eddy Merckx", Belgian media report that Paris-Brussels will retain its name. The differences between the two organisations being too great, the contract was cancelled.
"I don't quite understand it," said Paris-Brussels organiser François Demol to Radio 1. "There was an agreement that satisfied everyone, and now it all fell apart over a spectator stand at the finish." Paris-Brussels will thus depart from Soissons, France to finish under the famous Atomium in the outskirts of Brussels on September 10, 2005. The GP Eddy Merckx, a two-rider time trial has vanished from the calendar, and so will its name.
