"In the final it was a bit hectic" - Tim Merlier emerges victorious from crash-affected sprint on stage 3 of AlUla Tour 2025
CyclingThursday, 30 January 2025 at 14:49
For the second time in three days, Tim Merlier has proven himself the quickest sprinter in the field at the 2025 AlUla Tour. On Thursday, Soudal - Quick-Step's European champion emerged victorious in a crash-affected sprint on stage 3.
“The legs were good today,” Merlier reflected when speaking to the media afterwards. “I felt good. In the final it was a bit hectic. There was a left turn, but that turned out to be for the cars, not for us. We almost took the wrong exit. I was a bit surprised, but I took the win, so I'm happy.”
There was also the added drama of echelons, although Merlier himself seemed unbothered. “It was not really a big fight, a large group stayed together,” said the Belgian. “It was okay. They were not real echelons.”
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| 1 | Merlier Tim | Soudal Quick-Step | 14 | 04:16:23 |
| 2 | Groenewegen Dylan | Team Jayco-AlUla | 5 | + 00 |
| 3 | Molano Sebastian | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 3 | + 00 |
| 4 | Moschetti Matteo | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 5 | Barbier Pierre | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 6 | Brustenga Marc | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 00 | |
| 7 | Fedorov Yevgeniy | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 8 | Dauphin Florian | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 | |
| 9 | Bruttomesso Alberto | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 10 | Kolze Changizi Sebastian | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 11 | Romele Alessandro | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 12 | Van Rooy Kenneth | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 13 | Degenkolb John | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 14 | Van Lerberghe Bert | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 15 | Hatherly Alan | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 16 | Fancellu Alessandro | JCL Team Ukyo | + 00 | |
| 17 | Basset Pierre-Henry | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 18 | Quick Blake | Roojai Insurance | + 00 | |
| 19 | Kepplinger Rainer | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 20 | Johnston Calum | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 21 | Pasqualon Andrea | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 22 | Abrahamsen Jonas | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 23 | Wallin Rasmus Bøgh | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 24 | Oliveira Ivo | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | + 00 | |
| 25 | Dversnes Fredrik | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 26 | Jegat Jordan | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 | |
| 27 | Reynders Jens | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 28 | Zijlaard Maikel | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 29 | van den Broek Frank | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 30 | Babor Daniel | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 31 | Haquin Henri-Francois | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 32 | Voisard Yannis | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 33 | van der Meulen Max | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 34 | Garibbo Nicolo | JCL Team Ukyo | + 00 | |
| 35 | Kulset Johannes | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 36 | Jakobsen Fabio | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 37 | Holter Ådne | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 38 | Boniface Lucas | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 | |
| 39 | Erzen Zak | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 40 | Ibanez Javier | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 41 | Leroux Samuel | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 | |
| 42 | Walscheid Max | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 15 | |
| 43 | Thalmann Roland | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 15 | |
| 44 | Mezgec Luka | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 15 | |
| 45 | Liepins Emils | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 15 | |
| 46 | Parisini Nicolò | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 21 | |
| 47 | Mikutis Aivaras | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 23 | |
| 48 | Vervenne Jonathan | Soudal Quick-Step | + 23 | |
| 49 | Warlop Jordi | Soudal Quick-Step | + 23 | |
| 50 | Stockwell Oliver | Bahrain Victorious | + 23 | |
| 51 | Grellier Fabien | Team TotalEnergies | + 23 | |
| 52 | van Uden Casper | Team Picnic PostNL | + 23 | |
| 53 | Bjerg Mikkel | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | + 23 | |
| 54 | Frison Frederik | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 23 | |
| 55 | Zukowsky Nickolas | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 23 | |
| 56 | Iribar Unai | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 23 | |
| 57 | Van Hautegem Leander | Wagner Bazin WB | + 23 | |
| 58 | Bregnhøj Mathias | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 23 | |
| 59 | González Abner | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 23 | |
| 60 | de Bod Stefan | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 23 | |
| 61 | Elosegui Iñigo | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 23 | |
| 62 | Uriarte Diego | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 23 | |
| 63 | Pesenti Thomas | Soudal Quick-Step | + 23 | |
| 64 | Darder Sergi | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 23 | |
| 65 | Delbove Joris | Team TotalEnergies | + 23 | |
| 66 | Kuzmin Anton | XDS Astana Team | + 23 | |
| 67 | Desal Cériel | Wagner Bazin WB | + 23 | |
| 68 | Richards Kane | Roojai Insurance | + 23 | |
| 69 | Gonov Lev | XDS Astana Team | + 23 | |
| 70 | Eyob Metkel | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 23 | |
| 71 | Pericas Adria | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | + 23 | |
| 72 | Phonarjthan Patompob | Roojai Insurance | + 23 | |
| 73 | Kristoff Alexander | Uno-X Mobility | + 23 | |
| 74 | Marcerou Nicola | Team TotalEnergies | + 23 | |
| 75 | Reinders Elmar | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 23 | |
| 76 | Bastiaens Ayco | Soudal Quick-Step | + 23 | |
| 77 | Raccani Simone | JCL Team Ukyo | + 23 | |
| 78 | Weemaes Sasha | Wagner Bazin WB | + 32 | |
| 79 | Buratti Nicolò | Bahrain Victorious | + 37 | |
| 80 | Ravbar Anze | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | + 37 | |
| 81 | D'Amato Andrea | JCL Team Ukyo | + 37 | |
| 82 | Hopkins Dylan | Roojai Insurance | + 37 | |
| 83 | Carrascosa Pablo | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 01:02 | |
| 84 | Aznar Hugo | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 01:02 | |
| 85 | Castellon Jan | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 01:02 | |
| 86 | Dunbar Edward | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 01:02 | |
| 87 | Alabdulmunim Abdulaziz Azzam | Saudi Arabia | + 01:02 | |
| 88 | Aiman Shahmir | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 01:02 | |
| 89 | Vinokurov Alexandre | XDS Astana Team | + 01:02 | |
| 90 | Gamper Patrick | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 01:02 | |
| 91 | Azanza Ibai | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 01:02 | |
| 92 | Vinokurov Nicolas | XDS Astana Team | + 01:02 | |
| 93 | Majka Rafal | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | + 01:08 | |
| 94 | Mohd Shabri Muhammad Haizam | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 01:20 | |
| 95 | Kulset Magnus | Uno-X Mobility | + 01:23 | |
| 96 | Vangheluwe Warre | Soudal Quick-Step | + 01:24 | |
| 97 | Leijnse Enzo | Team Picnic PostNL | + 01:24 | |
| 98 | Alkulaif Alhur | Saudi Arabia | + 01:31 | |
| 99 | Yamamoto Masaki | JCL Team Ukyo | + 01:31 | |
| 100 | Azparren Xabier | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 01:39 | |
| 101 | Alfairouz Jehad | Saudi Arabia | + 01:55 | |
| 102 | Märkl Niklas | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 103 | Pidcock Tom | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 104 | Rosli Aiman | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 02:08 | |
| 105 | Miltiadis Andreas | Roojai Insurance | + 02:08 | |
| 106 | Cahyadi Aiman | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 02:10 | |
| 107 | Saenta Tanawat | Roojai Insurance | + 02:10 | |
| 108 | Kobayashi Marino | JCL Team Ukyo | + 02:10 | |
| 109 | Al Shaikhahmed Ali | Saudi Arabia | + 02:38 | |
| 110 | Almuhanna Bader | Saudi Arabia | + 02:38 | |
| 111 | Koishi Yuma | JCL Team Ukyo | + 02:51 | |
| 112 | de Kleijn Arvid | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 113 | Sorarrain Gorka | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 114 | Jassas Ali | Saudi Arabia | + 06:34 | |
| 115 | Thimachai Kongphob | Roojai Insurance | + 06:39 | |
| 116 | Alhassan Ali Jehad | Saudi Arabia | + 07:20 | |
| 117 | Eekhoff Nils | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 |
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