Tim Merlier: "I could write down before the stage who’s going down in a crash"

Merlier was on his own in the final and was in fifteenth position when a group of riders crashed in front of him. “I could write down before the stage who’s going down in a crash. I’ll have to think about it, but I already know a few names,” he sighed.

“Some riders just go a little over the limit,” he told Sporza. “They prefer to crash rather than sprint. The positive news is that I didn't crash today. They have to know that themselves. I'm not sure exactly why things went wrong. There are a few riders I'd rather not get behind in the chaos.”

For Merlier, it was a bitter pill to swallow after all the work his team had put in. “I lost control; otherwise, I wouldn't have been behind the crash. I still felt that it would be okay. I was moving up and made the wrong choice twice, taking the wrong side of the roundabout. That was my own mistake. I thought I could still rectify it."

“I'm really standing here with mixed feelings. I missed another chance, but on the other hand, I stayed on my bike. Fortunately, I already have two victories to my name and I can still look back on my Tour de France with satisfaction,” said the Belgian, who doesn't think it will be a sprint in Paris with the new route. “It's going to be very difficult. It will be a tough three days where the legs won't be very happy,” he said, looking ahead to the Alps.