"It was a typical Belgian day with many echelons" - Tim Merlier thrives on familiar conditions to take comfortable win at AlUla Tour

The AlUla Tour started on the wrong foot for Tim Merlier, who had to sprint on a teammate's bike on stage 1 and struggled with the climbing on stage 2. However on the third day of racing all pieces fell into place for the Soudal - Quick-Step rider who took his first win of the season.

"It was very cold today at the start. It was a typical Belgian day with many echelons and I like that. That really made me very motivated and I didn't want to make any mistakes," the Belgian said in a post-race interview. "The start was okay with a lot of headwind and every opportunity to do echelons was taken. The last one was the right one in the end."

The wind was strong in the Saudi desert this afternoon and the peloton felt it. A few riders hit the deck in the final nervous hour of racing, with a group of around 50 riders going clear. This did not include race leader Soren Waerenskjold, but many of the race's top sprinters were present. Soudal - Quick-Step pushed the pace in the final kilometer, but ultimately Merlier launched his sprint from the wheels of the Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL leadout.

"That was very special, because there were many open areas with a lot of wind. Everything had to be perfect for the sprint and in the end it was," he tells. The Belgian found favourable conditions in the wind, and on the run-up to the line had the superior firepower by a large margin. He outsprinted Arvid de Kleijn and Casper van Uden - and in the process moved to second in the GC, with a possibility of jumping another spot during tomorrow's stage.