"I would have immediately signed up in early March" - Tim Merlier collects 13th win of 2026 despite a delayed start to the season
Cycling
Tim Merlier left no room for doubts about who should be the strongest sprinter at the men's 2026 Eneco Tour. The Belgian secured the first road stage of the race, his thirteenth victory of the season. Now he's back to trailing his younger teammate Paul Magnier by a single triumph in 2026.
Afterwards, Merlier could not deny that today's finish could hardly have gone better for him: "A textbook sprint? Almost, yes," he laughed afterwards in a quick interview for WielerFlits.
There was never as much as a doubt about whether the stage would end up with a sprint. Team Soudal - Quick-Step, at times helped by Picnic PostNL and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, kept the three-man breakaway on a short leash, and comfortably neutralized the last of them with 10 kilometers to go.
Perfect execution of plan
Then it became a task of whichever team would manage to set up the best sprint train. Once again, the Belgian team with sprinting in its DNA handled this phase perfectly, setting up Merlier in a position where losing was nearly impossible.
"My teammates did a great job. It certainly wasn't easy, with that downhill section towards the roundabout. We also had to go under a building. Timing was important there."
"Bert (Van Lerberghe, ed.) and Pepijn (Reinderink, ed.) managed to pilot me well into the last 500 meters. After that, of course, other teams came up behind me and I had to take a bit of a gamble. However, I started the final bend in a virtually perfect position."
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When a knee injury forced Merlier to miss most of the spring campaign - only four race days before May - Merlier would not have dared to aim for as successful season. But rather than panicking, Merlier in collaboration with team's physicians gradually put the Belgian together for a slightly delayed start to 2026.
"I would have signed up for that immediately in early March or even April," said the Soudal Quick-Step rider. "It shows that I am simply up to par. I can be happy with that after a ... winter," Merlier responded with a broad smile.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Absolutely notbruins3015-10-2026
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- is this crazy?Ketterechts15-10-2026
- WTF? What should I apologize for? Did you understand what I wrote?MajorPayne15-10-2026
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- You've been dropped multiuple times from this site LOL !frieders315-10-2026
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