Thrilling two-man time trial by Van der Poel and Rickaert comes up short: Dutchman caught in final kilometer, Merlier wins

The second flat stage in a row seemed tailor-made for the sprinters. A breakaway wasn’t expected, but Alpecin-Deceuninck had other ideas: Jonas Rickaert attacked early, and Mathieu van der Poel followed. The pair quickly opened a sizable gap on the peloton. Their first goal: the intermediate sprint, located just 23 kilometers after the start.

The peloton didn’t quite know how to respond, and so the lead grew so large that it was clear Van der Poel would easily make it to the intermediate sprint. He took the 20 points: behind the duo, Milan took the remaining points, ahead of Girmay and Merlier. But the sprint in La Belle Indienne wasn’t the end of the road for the Alpecin men. They simply continued their adventure!

The lead grew to nearly six minutes, but the sprinters’ teams didn’t let it go beyond that. It seemed like a quiet day, but two crashes in a short time ruined the calm. First among those involved were Pavel Bittner, Tim Naberman (Picnic PostNL), Sam Watson (INEOS Grenadiers) and Ion Izagirre, and not much later it was Georg Zimmermann who hit the ground. The German champion was the most seriously injured: he was treated for a long time by the medical car.

After the crashes of Louis Barré and Jonas Rutsch, it was the third big crash in three days for Intermarché-Wanty. João Almeida, meanwhile, was really struggling: the Portuguese rider was racing with serious injuries after his crash in stage 7, and was often behind the peloton. Every turn looked like hell for Tadej Pogacar’s lieutenant, who couldn’t accelerate properly. He did later make it back to the group, but things were not looking good.

A little later all suspicions were confirmed: Almeida stepped off his bike and into the team car. It was a huge blow for yellow jersey wearer Pogacar: in the final week, he will have to do without his most important helper. The fact that the average speed was 48 kilometers per hour - mainly due to the hard work of Rickaert and Van der Poel at the front - didn’t help.

The pair held on impressively, but their lead shrank after the first crosswind action. Riders like Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) briefly lost time but were able to return. The Belgian closed the gap himself, though it took him a lot of energy. The peloton was very nervous, and it felt like everyone was holding their breath for the next dangerous moment.

The peloton had fully picked up the pace by now, and the lead of the two Alpecin-Deceuninck riders was dwindling by the kilometer. Even though the average speed was close to 50 kilometers per hour, the two speedsters held on for a long time. But when the crosswind alarm sounded again, the gap was closed even more. About 50 riders missed the split with 30 kilometers to go: the Yates brothers and Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) were not in the front group, but most of the key riders were present.

And it wasn’t over yet. Things remained tense, and gaps opened up here and there. They weren’t permanent. Riders like Van Aert and Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal Quick-Step) were able to return. The lead of the breakaway dropped to 40 seconds, but when things calmed slightly, the gap grew again. Was there still hope for the brave attackers?

Van der Poel and Rickaert gave it absolutely everything they had. They entered the final 10 kilometers with a lead of 53 seconds. They were fighting to stay ahead of a significantly reduced peloton, where many domestiques had been dropped because of the crosswinds. It made for beautiful scenes: Alpecin-Deceuninck caused some disruptions, and Remco Evenepoel even got involved in support of Merlier. There was hesitation in the peloton!

With 6 kilometers to go, it was all in Van der Poel's hands (or rather, his legs). Rickaert was exhausted and dropped back. The former world champion was spent... but so was the peloton! Still, the fairytale didn’t last long. Mathieu was caught in the final kilometer. The sprint was launched by Danny van Poppel, but the expected duel between Milan and Merlier ended in favor of the Belgian.