"It was really hectic!" - Tim Merlier second in 'crazy' sprint on stage 2 at Tirreno-Adriatico
Cycling
In a frantic and technical sprint finish on stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, Tim Merlier went early and for a while looked good until Jasper Philipsen powered around to take the win.
"It was really hectic!" Merlier reflects honestly post-stage in conversation with Eurosport. "It was crazy in the final and we followed positions but we were a bit too far in the last kilometre and before the last corner I tried from far out."
Read also
Whilst victory was ultimately a step too far, it's yet another positive showing for Merlier in 2024 after previous victories at UAE Tour and the AlUla Tour.
"I was on the inside and I lost some speed then there was still 200m to go so a bit too early but I gave it a try," he concludes. "I wasn't out of the top-3 so I can be happy with the shape and I'm looking forward to more."
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Five world tour debutants to watch next season
Popular news
Latest comments
- Most of these have nothing to do with rider safety or are completely unachievablevappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- Depends on how fast the Cipressa would be beforehand and in what condition Philipsen would bevappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- Some things sound crazy until they aren't, what if he's actually right? 🤷vappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- Why make a comment to state the obvious? Of course MvdP is much better at CX than Pogacar, does anyone doubt that But that wasn't his pointvappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- If you look at road alone obvi Pogacar is the better rider. But maybe MVDP is the better overall rider since he can win in three plus disciplines?mobk23-12-2024
- Correction on 2021 Olympics. It was mainly the Dutch ladies who didn’t know who was leading the race. Other teams like the Germans and Italians knew that Kiesenhofer was out front.mobk23-12-2024
- A champion turning into a sore loser. Or is he on coke again?
UltimateOpportunist23-12-2024 - If you look at the major races they’ve both been in, van der Poel had the early edge as lately Pogacar has had the advantage. It’s all on procyclingstats.RidesHills23-12-2024
- I wouldn’t assume Tadej can’t win at cross. He did a cross race, not a World Cup, a few years ago and crushed the field. It was a minor race. But he can win anywhere.mij23-12-2024
- I wonder what would happen if Pogacar attacked on the Cipressa instead of the Poggio in San Remo? Would MvdPoel still be able to follow?Ride197423-12-2024