"I will have to try to get a big win this year" - Tim Merlier determined to make himself heard in 2024

Currently competing at his season opener in Saudi Arabia at the AlUla Tour, Tim Merlier realises a big 2024 is needed for his future career prospects.

"Last year I won five times in the WorldTour alone. Maybe it seemed normal to the outside world. Afterwards I had the feeling: I don't really count," Merlier recently detailed in conversation with Het Nieuwsblad. "It teaches me that I shouldn't be easily satisfied with myself. I will have to try to get a big win this year."

Having also been shunned for Soudal - Quick-Step's Grand Tour lineups in 2023, a return to a three-week stage race is also something the former Belgian champion is hopeful of this year. "I want to make myself heard. I want to win some more stages in a Grand Tour. Or become Belgian champion again. I dream of Gent-Wevelgem or Paris-Roubaix," he explains.

A former Giro d'Italia and Tour de France stage winner, Merlier has only managed a top-3 placing at the Vuelta a Espana. Could he be set for a trip to Spain later this year in order to complete the set?

"If there was only one sprint, it wouldn't be worth going there," Merlier assesses. "I also don't want to win just one stage in each Grand Tour. The hunger is very great, I want to expand my list of achievements."