Tim Merlier won the sprint of the peloton to claim his eighth Grand Tour win on Wednesday in Bordeaux, one of the iconic sites of the Tour de France. Merlier beat Soren Waerenskjold of Uno-X Mobility and Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling Team, with Max Kanter fourth for XDS Astana Team and Jasper Philipsen fifth for Alpecin-Premier Tech.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) retained his overall lead in the quest for his third straight title.
With around 600 metres to go, Matthieu van der Poel searched in front as Alpecin-Premier Tech looked to be in control of the sprint. But van der Poel began his sprint too early, while Merlier was still sitting in fifth wheel, behind Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) and Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural) with 500 metres to go.
While Van der Poel swung off with 250 metres to go, Merlier kept his cool and waited until 150 metres to go to surge past his rivals in an unstoppable move.
An understated Tim Merlier was delighted to have secured a Tour de France stage victory for the fourth time in his career.
"It feels really good. This is my third Tour, and the fact that I’ve now taken a win in each one makes me proud," the Belgian said in his post-race interview.
The Soudal Quick-Step star also took a subtle dig at the teams that refused to help with the pace-setting in the peloton during the stage.
"Thanks to the team for the great work. Alpecin and we were the only ones working to reel in the breakaway, so I’m glad it wasn’t a rider from another team who won," says Merlier.