{"id":226567,"date":"2025-10-26T14:07:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226567\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T14:07:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:07:08","slug":"they-want-excitement-in-the-tour-so-theyre-taking-out-the-boring-stages-tim-merlier-reacts-to-2026-tour-de-france-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/226567\/","title":{"rendered":"“They want excitement in the Tour, so they\u2019re taking out the boring stages” \u2014 Tim Merlier reacts to 2026 Tour de France route"},"content":{"rendered":"

The route for the 2026 Tour de France<\/a>, unveiled a few days ago, has sparked mixed reactions among riders and fans. While most of the attention naturally turned to the mountain stages where Tadej Pogacar<\/a> will pursue a record-tying fifth title, the fast men were left to assess whether the new design truly favors them.<\/p>\n

Despite Tour route director Thierry Gouvenou\u2019s previous criticism of flat stages, the 2026 edition features seven potential sprint opportunities, an increase from 2025\u2019s five bunch finishes. These include stages 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, and 21. However, as always, geography and fatigue may tell a different story.<\/p>\n

Among those reacting to the new route was Tim Merlier<\/a> of Soudal\u2013QuickStep, who has three Tour stage wins to his name, including two in 2025. Speaking to Sporza<\/a>, the Belgian sprinter acknowledged that the apparent sprint chances might not all materialize.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I still have to look at the details. I personally see six opportunities, but some could even fall away if things have already been difficult. Of course, I\u2019d like more sprint opportunities. But they want excitement in the Tour, so they\u2019re taking out the boring stages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merlier is doubtful regarding the final stage in Paris, where sprinters will once again face a challenging finale. The 2026 Tour retains the Montmartre circuit, which proved decisive in 2025, when Wout van Aert triumphed over Pogacar in a rain-soaked finish. While an additional lap of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es has been added to give fast men more room to recover, the Belgian remains cautious and thinks the accumulation of efforts throughout the three weeks might be too tough for sprinters to hope for a stage win the last day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is and will remain difficult for us. Especially because of those extreme stages before that. I hope to sprint on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es again someday. That hasn\u2019t happened to me yet,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Beyond stage design, Merlier noted that endurance will again play a major role, with the Alps posing a brutal final test before Paris. \u201cAfter those stages, the sprinters\u2019 legs will be cut off,\u201d he said, referring to the Alpe d\u2019Huez double header in stages 19 and 20.<\/p>\n

Former sprinter Marcel Kittel<\/a> also joined the debate earlier this year, defending the importance of sprint stages within the Tour\u2019s broader balance. \u201cYou certainly can\u2019t blame the sprinters\u2019 teams for trying to control the race and make sure there is a sprint,\u201d Kittel said. \u201cThere are only a limited number of chances in the Tour, and this is a top-level sport.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The route for the 2026 Tour de France, unveiled a few days ago, has sparked mixed reactions among…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-226567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}