‘I was alone’ – Door open for next Tour de France sprints with speed, but not luck, on Tim Merlier’s side in Pau

That run toward the line in Pau on stage 5 of the Tour de France was what Tim Merlier and his Soudal-QuickStep team had been waiting for. It was finally a sprint chance for the rider who won two stages of the 2025 edition and this year largely carries the hopes of his squad now that Remco Evenepoel has moved on.

Conserving energy through the tough opening stages, his team were switched on for Wednesday, doing their bit to make sure the break didn’t spoil the sprint chance.

“After losing both Bert and Jasper, I was alone and had to find a way to get into position for the sprint and still fight for a good result. I thought I had found an opening at one point, but was forced almost immediately to come around and that was that,” Merlier said in a team statement.

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Still, even though he looked to be out of contention, once the Belgian got clear his turn of speed was impressive with the rider seemingly coming out of nowhere to clinch third behind Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Max Kanter (XDS-Astana).

The circumstances around him charging toward the line after another hot day on the bike may not have been ideal, but the pace he unfurled when he finally got to launch was.

Now, he’ll have to work his way through the mountains on Thursday before the stage to Bordeaux on Friday and then stage 8 to Bergerac on Saturday, when another two of the limited sprint opportunities of this year’s Tour de France should unfold.

“I hope that in the next stages, luck will be on our side,” said Merlier.

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