Soudal Quick-Step seems to have its Tour battle plan ready, but what does that mean for Tim Merlier and Paul Magnier?

“It will be a Tour for the strong sprinters, because the course is challenging,” said Soudal Quick-Step CEO Jurgen Foré earlier. "There's the start, and the second week is also tough. The sprint stages are spread out in between. And on the penultimate day, there's a mountain stage with 5,600 meters of climbing... Which I find a bit extreme," he said critically.

On paper, there would be a total of six to seven sprint opportunities, so the Belgian team does not want to rely solely on the sprints. “With Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle, we have strong riders who could do well in the transition stages, and Ilan Van Wilder, Mikel Landa, Junior Lecerf, Steff Cras, and Valentin Paret-Peintre can hold their own in the mountains,” the CEO immediately revealed.

Then, of course, the inevitable question arises: with such strong climbers, is a good classification possible? “Why not?” said Foré. “If you finish eighth anonymously, it's not much use to the sponsors. But there are other ways, as Junior did in the Vuelta: by racing attractively.”

While France seems to be dreaming of Paul Magnier's Tour debut, Foré declined to comment on it in an interview with HLN. “It's far too early to talk about that, but perhaps it's also too early to send Paul to the Tour,” said the Belgian.

If the young Frenchman is in the same form as this fall, that might make the decision a lot easier for The Wolfpack. In September and October, Magnier won no fewer than fourteen (!) times. “Okay, he wins a lot, but we mustn't forget that he's only 21. He rode two weeks of the Giro this year. To then immediately expose him to the Tour...,” Foré said, leaving the question mark lingering.

Whether Soudal Quick-Step leaves Magnier at home or not, a selection of Tim Merlier seems obvious. The Belgian said he watched the presentation of the Tour route ‘with stress’. “But I think my chances are not too bad,” the former European champion told Sporza.

The organizers labeled seven stages as flat, but Merlier sees it slightly differently. “I see six opportunities myself, but some of them may even be lost if it has already been difficult. Of course, I would like to see more sprint opportunities. But they want excitement in the Tour, so they remove the ‘boring’ stages.”

The Belgian sprint bomb will therefore have to wait a while for the first opportunity, which in this year's Tour was already on day one. “We'll have to grit our teeth until day five,” says Merlier, who was not hoping for another modified final stage in Paris. “It is and remains difficult for us. Especially because of those extreme stages before,” the sprinter looks ahead to stage 21.

“After that, there's a long transfer, so the sprinters' legs will be cut off,” Merlier continues. “I had hoped that the organization would schedule the classic finish again year after year. That would have been nice. I hope to sprint down the Champs-Élysées again someday. I haven't been granted that yet,” concludes the Belgian.