Dylan van Baarle saw Tim Merlier really struggling at the Tour de France: 'I don't think he's the only one'

Many had once again counted on Tim Merlier in Wednesday’s Tour de France stage, but the Belgian didn’t factor into the sprint won by Søren Waerenskjold. The Soudal Quick-Step sprinter finished 15th in the stage results. Before the stage, IDL Pro Cycling spoke with Dylan van Baarle, who may have explained his sprinter’s off day.

After his victories on days 7 and 8, Merlier had certainly become the man to beat in the sprints of this Tour de France. That’s why he started Wednesday’s stage to Nevers as the top favorite once again, but with a 15th-place finish, it just didn’t work out. The day before, Merlier had really struggled.

The sprinter, along with teammate Van Baarle, reached the summit of Le Lioran 41 minutes and 41 seconds behind winner Tadej Pogacar. As a result, the gruppetto had just under four minutes left, since the 19% time limit came out to 45 minutes and 15 seconds. “That was the reason the team let me drop back from the peloton,” Van Baarle said.

Because: “By then, they already realized it was going to be a close call.” And so the Dutchman described Tuesday as a “very tough day.” To illustrate just how tough such a day is, Van Baarle explains it clearly. “To put it in terms of watts: we’re actually putting out just as many watts as the riders in the peloton, but we’re just going a little slower.”

Soudal Quick-Step was therefore all the more pleased that Merlier made it, even though the Belgian certainly didn’t have it easy. “Of course he had a tough time, but I don’t think he’s the only one in the peloton who struggled,” Van Baarle put it into perspective. “The advantage is that he had everything he needed in terms of food, drinks, and cooling. So that helps a lot. In any case, he didn’t lack for anything.”

In any case, the Dutchman was certainly confident, and he had good reasons to be. “In the last two sprints, he’s just made a lot of good decisions. It only takes a split second—like in Pau—where he makes one wrong decision. Then he ends up too far back. It’s all about split seconds and the little details. If you don’t have that under control, it gets tough.” In hindsight, that’s where things seemed to go wrong for Merlier on paper on Wednesday.

Well, despite his two previous victories, Merlier didn’t play a role in Stage 11, but when will we see another Dylan van Baarle stage in France? “I hope soon,” the veteran rider laughed. “Fortunately, the temperatures are dropping a bit, so hopefully my body will respond a little better to that”—he, too, had been struggling with the heat up to that point.

Van Baarle didn't want to look too far ahead either. "We'll see how it goes. We'll take it day by day. First, let's just get through these next two days, and then we'll see what happens."