Dominant Tim Merlier storms into Maillot Jaune with stage 1 Paris-Nice win
Cycling
Soudal - Quick-Step's European champion Tim Merlier has sprinted to the win on the opening stage of Paris-Nice 2025, moving into the first Maillot Jaune of the race as a result.
The trio of Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché - Wanty), Alexandre Delettre (Team TotalEnergies) and Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) all got themselves up the road and into the breakaway. The hopes of the attack never look good though, and with just over 60km to go, Delettre already attempted to drop his companions and go ahead solo. Although Fernandez joined him soon after, all of the break had been swallowed up just inside the final 50km.
With the Côte de Villiers-Saint-Frédéric one of two climbs giving the peloton the potential to jettison the sprinters in the final 25km, Julian Alaphilippe made a big acceleration, fighting for King of the Mountains points at the top with Matteo Jorgenson. Although there were no major splits caused in the peloton, the racing was reignited at the front. On the flat after the climb, Kasper Asgreen also attempted a move but similarly couldn't break free.
As things calmed down slightly inside the final 15km, any sprinters who had been dropped, most notably Uno-X Mobility's Alexander Kristoff, were able to re-attach with the peloton. With bonus seconds on offer atop Les Mesnuls though, the racing was brought to life once again by Santiago Buitrago on the final climb of the day. By the top of the climb though it was Jhonatan Narvaez who edged out Jorgenson for the bonus seconds.
There was no calming down after the climb this time either. A number of riders attempted flying attacks in the immediate aftermath, including a very interesting one that involved Mattias Skjelmose, Matteo Trentin and Joshua Tarling that got a small gap. At 2.3km to go though, they too had been caught, with focus finally turning fully towards the upcoming bunch sprint. In the fight for the line, European champion Tim Merlier was a dominant winner as Arnaud Demare took second in a crowded finish behind.
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- If we're playing the "what if" game - I'd go further back to Mads getting a puncture and possibly being a favourite to win the race. He would have likely beat Tadej and MVDP in a sprint at the Velodrome. He appeared to be one of the stronger riders who faced some bad luck. But, that's just cycling. Wout could have very well won Paris-Roubaix in 2023 if he hadn't punctured in the last 10km. I wish Tadej hadn't crashed or would've caught up so all these stories of how Tadej should have won wouldn't exist, I think MVDP was the stronger rider in this particular race.JBlake16-04-2025
- There might be some truth to Visma's psychology being hurt by last year's crashes. But, definitely - Itzulia was a boycott because of the Organizer's and comments made by them this year again proves it is necessary. The crash profoundly changed the course of the season for several of the top riders, yet they got blamed for not being careful, going too fast, or. not knowing the roads enough.JBlake16-04-2025
- Someone else may be able to give better local context, but I don't think these type of incidents only happen to MVDP - although, it does seem to happen more often to him. Eli Iserbyt had beer thrown at him earlier this year, or Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard had chips thrown in their face during last year's Tour de France. The common theme is alcohol between most incidents, combined with being outdoors for a prolonged period of time. MVDP is also not very well-liked by many Belgian fans for his success, particularly against a rider like Wout. It's likely a combination of today's society, alcohol, some dislike towards the rider, and just being stupid. Hopefully real consequences might dissuade others from doing similar things.JBlake16-04-2025
- Yeah, but MVDP actually isn't. If Pog goes up the road, it is his responsibility to run it down, and everyone knows he has the most to lose. It's just rare that anyone calls him on it.acem8216-04-2025
- In almost any other sport the culprit would be banished and banned from the event venue, either temporarily or permanently.. Giving the perpetrators of this terrible behavior a mere verbal warning accomplishes absolutely nothing, and is insulting to the riders subjected to these type of abuses as well.
santiagobenites16-04-2025 - Itzulia? Are you sure it wasn’t more a boycott? Didn’t see many others going who crashed last year, out of the dozen of the crash only Cras I think.Mistermaumau16-04-2025
- MVDP also had a late bike change, so in theory a chance for Pogi to reel some time back. But by that point MvdP was strongermobk16-04-2025
- l don’t live in europe, i live in southern california. can someone explain why this stuff happens to van der poel and seemingly ONLY van der poel? i don’t need anyone to say it’s wrong or awful or whatever. i’m looking for a real cultural explanation of this phenomenon from someone who has a much deeper understanding of the forces at play than i do. thanks in advance.OCexile15-04-2025
- A MVDP victory certainly did not seem "inevitable" before the crash, with TP, MVDP and Philipsen leaving the peloton behind.. Pogi attacked to drop Philipsen, with Mathieu understandably unwilling to help, and he was surely attempting to put MVDP on the limit later by attacking again, until the crash derailed his efforts. Still the gap was manageable, and he was slowly trimming it down, but then a mechanical forced him to change bikes and that was the final straw. Kudos to TP for making it exciting, rather than just a walk in the park for MVDP.FredMan15-04-2025
- nice idea, but as analysis point out over and over, mvdp is more willing than anyone to lose a race in order to win it. why do you think smart riders like wout, ganna and mads end up doing his dirty work over and over? because he’s almost impossible to manipulate.OCexile15-04-2025