Tour de France
Stage 9: Chinon - Châteauroux
France
Sunday 13 July 2025
170 km
Tour de France: Merlier makes it two in Châteauroux

Tim Merlier is the name. Winning races is the game. The European Champion claimed the big prize again at the most prestigious race in the world after putting in another magnificent sprint to take the victory in Châteauroux, where Soudal Quick-Step won at the previous visit, in 2021.
Completely flat, stage nine should have been a quiet one – on paper, at least – the presence of a strong duo up the road and the constant echelon threat forcing the peloton to remain alert and chase hard, which resulted in the second-fastest stage in the history of the Tour de France: a remarkable 50.01km/h!
Going into the closing kilometers, as things began heating up, the 32-year-old demonstrated both calmness and a clinical mindset, staying out of the wind the entire time and waiting for the last 200 meters to pounce and overcome Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) for his second victory of the week at the end of another nail-biting sprint.
“I’m happy I could win here today and repay the team for all their hard work. It was nervous out there the entire day because of the wind, but in the end the peloton stayed together. The heat also made things really tough, so it wasn’t at all an easy stage despite the profile. We chased hard behind the escapees, but we pulled together with other teams and managed to bring them back.”
“Coming into Châteauroux, I lost Bert for a moment but then found him with two kilometers to go and was relaxed again at that point and really confident, which allowed me to do a perfect sprint. I remember Cav’s victory here from four years ago and I’m happy I could bring another win for Soudal Quick-Step in this beautiful city. Two victories from two bunch sprints in which I was present make for a great Tour de France for myself, but also for the squad”, said Tim after helping Soudal Quick-Step become the first team to score three wins at this edition.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step |
3:28:52 |
2 |
Jonathan Milan Lidl - Trek |
0:00 |
3 |
Arnaud De Lie Lotto |
0:00 |
4 |
Pavel Bittner Team Picnic PostNL |
0:00 |
5 |
Paul Penhoët Groupama - FDJ |
0:00 |
6 |
Biniam Girmay Hailu Intermarché - Wanty |
0:00 |
7 |
Phil Bauhaus Bahrain - Victorious |
0:00 |
8 |
Jordi Meeus Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
0:00 |
9 |
Stian Fredheim Uno-X Mobility |
0:00 |
10 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin - Deceuninck |
0:00 |
30 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
0:00 |
52 |
Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step |
0:00 |
98 |
Pascal Eenkhoorn
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:12 |
103 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:44 |
120 |
Valentin Paret-Peintre
Soudal Quick-Step |
5:39 |
121 |
Maximilian Schachmann
Soudal Quick-Step |
6:58 |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
33:17:22 |
2 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
0:54 |
3 |
Kévin Vauquelin |
1:11 |
4 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
1:17 |
5 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
1:34 |
6 |
Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin - Deceuninck |
1:46 |
7 |
Oscar Onley Team Picnic PostNL |
2:49 |
8 |
Florian Lipowitz Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
3:02 |
9 |
Primož Roglič Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
3:06 |
10 |
Mattias Skjelmose Jensen Lidl - Trek |
3:43 |
36 |
Pascal Eenkhoorn
Soudal Quick-Step |
22:20 |
41 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
24:47 |
80 |
Maximilian Schachmann
Soudal Quick-Step |
42:13 |
107 |
Valentin Paret-Peintre
Soudal Quick-Step |
51:47 |
144 |
Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:07:14 |
148 |
Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:08:21 |
1 |
Jonathan Milan Lidl - Trek |
227 pt |
2 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
156 pt |
3 |
Biniam Girmay Hailu Intermarché - Wanty |
151 pt |
4 |
Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step |
150 pt |
5 |
Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin - Deceuninck |
128 pt |
6 |
Anthony Turgis Team TotalEnergies |
106 pt |
7 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
80 pt |
8 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin - Deceuninck |
67 pt |
9 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
56 pt |
10 |
Oscar Onley Team Picnic PostNL |
56 pt |
97 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
2 pt |
1 |
Tim Wellens UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
8 pt |
2 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
7 pt |
3 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
4 pt |
4 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
4 pt |
5 |
Ewen Costiou |
3 pt |
6 |
Michael Storer Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
3 pt |
7 |
Quinn Simmons Lidl - Trek |
2 pt |
8 |
Lenny Martinez Bahrain - Victorious |
2 pt |
9 |
Benjamin Thomas Cofidis |
2 pt |
10 |
Kévin Vauquelin |
1 pt |
1 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
33:18:16 |
2 |
Kévin Vauquelin |
0:17 |
3 |
Oscar Onley Team Picnic PostNL |
1:55 |
4 |
Florian Lipowitz Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
2:08 |
5 |
Mattias Skjelmose Jensen Lidl - Trek |
2:49 |
6 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
3:01 |
7 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
3:57 |
8 |
Romain Grégoire Groupama - FDJ |
10:15 |
9 |
Jenno Berckmoes Lotto |
10:46 |
10 |
Axel Laurance INEOS Grenadiers |
18:44 |
11 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
23:53 |
25 |
Valentin Paret-Peintre
Soudal Quick-Step |
50:53 |
1 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 99:56:32 |
2 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 7:53 |
3 | Groupama - FDJ | 13:07 |
4 | Array | 14:17 |
5 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 16:37 |
6 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 20:36 |
7 | INEOS Grenadiers | 23:42 |
8 | EF Education - EasyPost | 26:16 |
9 | Team TotalEnergies | 28:06 |
10 | Team Picnic PostNL | 28:20 |