"For one moment, I was really scared!" - Tim Merlier looking to bounce back after frightening near miss on stage 4 of Giro d'Italia

After his win in the opening bunch sprint of the Giro d'Italia on stage 3, Tim Merlier was forced to settle for 5th-place in the frantic finale of stage 4. With stage 5 presenting another opportunity for the fastmen, can the Soudal - Quick-Step sprinter get back to winning ways?

"It's flatter that's for sure but it's a hard stage," Merlier assesses of the upcoming day in comparison to the previous two sprints in conversation with Eurosport pre-stage. "The start especially is really, really hard so I don't know what will happen today."

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Merlier was vocally critical of the stage 4 finish, saying in his post-stage interview that he was "just happy to be alive." After sleeping on it overnight, the 31-year-old expanded on his thoughts ahead of stage 5. "The downhill was really, really fast. Everyone was fighting for position and yeah, luckily there were no big mistakes," he says. "But for one moment, I was really scared!"

As mentioned though, this afternoon, Merlier gets a chance to bounce back and with a stage win it's likely he would return to the Maglia Ciclamino. "The last three of four kilometres you'll need to be in position and I'll try to find a good gap in a good moment," he previews. "Yesterday I went too early and then you know it will be difficult to stay in front. I thought for one moment it would be possible with the high speed but yeah, it didn't happen."

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