Tim Merlier confirms sprinters’ theory after back-to-back Tour de France wins

Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step once again showed on Saturday that he may be the fastest man in the Tour de France. The Belgian won for the second day in a row, producing an impressive late surge from deep in the bunch. Although Merlier made the victory look straightforward, he insisted afterwards that it had felt anything but easy.

“I constantly had to fight for my position. That continued until the final kilometre, just before the corner,” said Merlier, who lost contact with lead-out rider Jasper Stuyven and found himself further back than he had hoped. “I was slightly boxed in, and then there was nearly a crash as well. At that moment, I briefly thought it was over.”

“But I thought: I’ll just try, and see whether I can get back to the riders who were launching the sprint. I came through with so much speed... When I saw the 250-metre board, I thought: I’m simply going full gas all the way to the finish, and then we’ll see. But yes... in the final 50 metres, I really couldn’t push the pedals anymore,” he admitted.

There is a familiar saying about sprinters: once they can smell the finish line, they are capable of finding something extra. Merlier agreed after his victory in the scorching heat of Bergerac. “Once you can see the finish, you somehow manage to produce that little bit more. But in this heat, it was an incredibly tough effort.”

That gave him his second victory of the race. “That is usually how it works, isn’t it? Once you win one, you can also win a second. I’m delighted that I’ve managed to win twice in three stages. In any case, my Tour is already a success,” concluded Merlier, who is also beginning to put serious pressure on Mads Pedersen’s green jersey in the Tour de France points classification.