The European Champion took his biggest victory of the year in Dunkerque, not far from the Belgian border.
Tim Merlier produced a brilliantly executed sprint in the closing meters of the third stage, edging out Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) to rack up his 11th success of the year and confirm that he remains the best sprinter in the world. In doing so, he made sure our squad has now won at least a stage at the last 13 editions of the Grande Boucle, a unique feat among the many teams of the current peloton.
“I came here to win a stage and I’m happy I could achieve this goal. It’s my sixth Grand Tour stage victory and my fourth in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey, and I’m glad I could get a win early, after what has been a stressful start to the race. It feels good to be back on the top spot of the podium at the Tour de France!”
Starting from Valenciennes, the stage was calm and quiet until the final kilometers. Despite some early attempts, there wasn’t a proper breakaway on Monday and the peloton set a steady tempo the whole time. The final kilometers were marred by several crashes, including one in which Remco Evenepoel was involved; fortunately, the Olympic Champion didn’t suffer any serious injuries and concluded the stage a couple of minutes later, surrounded by many of his teammates, knowing he would get the peloton’s time.
At the front of the race, after Bert Van Lerberghe seriously stretched out the group, Tim Merlier made his way to the front and waited for the final 150 meters to pounce in the headwind. The European Champion showed a fantastic turn of legs as he came on the outside in a superb aerodynamic position, hitting a maximum speed of 66.4km/h to claim the win in Dunkerque, where the Tour de France returned after 24 years.
“It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position and I lost Bert before the last corner. The team did an incredible job until the last five kilometers but then the real chaos started and it was really difficult to find a good position. I had to fight back to come in position while being in the wind all the time, which took a lot of energy. With 500 meters to go, I found a bit of slipstream and I just did my best when I launched my sprint. It’s a great day for the Wolfpack and we can be proud”, concluded the 32-year-old after he signed off Soudal Quick-Step’s 125th Grand Tour stage victory.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
