It is stage 12 of the Tour de France, of which Tim Merlier has already won three, including today’s. The Belgian should be cock-a-hoop, over the moon, jumping for joy, and he is, but that’s tempered by the fact there are still nine hard stages of the race to come.
In fact, it might already be race over for the Soudal Quick-Step rider, who proved once again on Thursday that he’s the fastest sprinter in the race. From now until the end in Paris, there might be no more bunch sprints for Merlier to prove himself again. Five sprints have come and gone, and now it’s mountains and breakaway terrain for the rest of the race.
Asked what his plan was for the rest of his days in France this year, Merlier was succinct: “Try to survive, maybe.”
Despite there being five sprint opportunities so far, this has not been an easy Tour for the fast men. There is not even the carrot of a final day sprint in Paris any more, with the traditional procession having been replaced with a hilly circuit around Montmartre instead.
“Of course, I think everybody wants to go to Paris,” Merlier said in his winner’s press conference. “If you have the feeling that you’re able to follow a good grupetto it’s more easy, but I remember last year that the last week was a fight with myself. Now I see that my recovery is ok day by day, and last year was different.”
A sprint is plausible next Wednesday, on stage 17 from Chambéry to Voiron, but with four categorised climbs in the first 60km, it could be a very tough day for a pure bunch finisher like Merlier.
“It’s difficult, Wednesday, it’s possible to have a sprint, but in the third week, it’s a hard stage, a hard start,” he said “For me, it’s more a breakaway day definitely. Maybe a sprint, but they’re going to try and drop me, for sure after today.”
As for the green jersey, which usually the winner of three stages would be in contention for, the Soudal Quick-Step rider lies in fourth, behind the leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech). With the possibility of no more bunch sprints, Merlier is not confident in his chances to move up.
“You always have to try, but if you do a lot just before a real mountain you blow up also,” he explained, with intermediates often coming mid-stage on climbing days. “If you blow up, you can go home. The green jersey is not a goal any more.”
With no sprints left, and the green jersey seemingly out of the question, where does that leave a sprinter like Merlier on the road to Paris? Suffering through the mountains, and finishing the race for pride? As one colleague in the press room put it, maybe he has nothing better to do. A complete Tour looks better in the record books, too.
All this talk of what’s next ignores the fact that Merlier has been the fastest man in this year’s race, a hat-trick at his third Tour de France, and now has six stages on the world’s biggest cycling stage.
“After the sprint yesterday I got extra motivation to do better,” Merlier said. “As I said this morning I’m going to learn about my mistakes from yesterday, and I think I did it.”
The key, according to his directeur sportif Tom Steels, is patience. “He said to Jasper [Stuyven] to stay calm and to wait, and that’s a sign he’s ready. When he has the patience, he has the legs to win.”
Patience has netted Merlier the victories, but now he will need grit to get through the final 10 days of the Tour, with the Vosges, Jura and Alps to come.
