"It's always nice to start the new season with a win" - Tim Merlier sends message on 2025 opener with dominant sprint win
CyclingTuesday, 28 January 2025 at 14:35
Tim Merlier finished 2024 as the sprinter with the most wins in the entire peloton. The Belgian hasn't taken long to prove his dominance is still there in 2025 either, taking a dominant sprint win on the opening stage of the AlUla Tour, Tuesday afternoon.
In a frantic and somewhat messy finale, Merlier launched early and despite the best efforts of Juan Sebastian Molano behind, it was Soudal - Quick-Step's European champion who prevailed at the line. "It's always nice to start the new season with a win," a beaming Merlier told reporters afterwards. "That worked out and gives everyone motivation for the next races. It's always difficult to say what form you're in, but there were a number of points that showed me what my level is. Only the reality is always different."
In the finale, Merlier was launched to victory by his trusty leadout man, Bert van Lerberghe. "It was quite nervous again. It's difficult to do the perfect things in the first race, like in the previous season. I think we did well. With 1.8 kilometres to go I lost Bert, but then I came back on his wheel," the Belgian recounts of the frantic finale. "He was in the wind for a kilometre, he did it perfectly again."
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Stage 1 - AlUla Tour 2025
| 1 | Merlier Tim | Soudal Quick-Step | 14 | 03:10:21 |
| 2 | Molano Sebastian | UAE Team Emirates XRG | 5 | + 00 |
| 3 | Zijlaard Maikel | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 3 | + 00 |
| 4 | Moschetti Matteo | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 5 | Groenewegen Dylan | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 6 | Walscheid Max | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 7 | Barbier Pierre | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 8 | Bruttomesso Alberto | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 9 | Weemaes Sasha | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 10 | D'Amato Andrea | JCL Team Ukyo | + 00 | |
| 11 | Jakobsen Fabio | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 12 | Darder Sergi | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 13 | Brustenga Marc | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 00 | |
| 14 | Gonov Lev | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 15 | Boniface Lucas | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 | |
| 16 | Abrahamsen Jonas | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 17 | Fedorov Yevgeniy | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 18 | Romele Alessandro | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 19 | Sorarrain Gorka | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 20 | Quick Blake | Roojai Insurance | + 00 | |
| 21 | Hatherly Alan | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 22 | Van Hautegem Leander | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 23 | Iribar Unai | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 00 | |
| 24 | Oliveira Ivo | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 25 | Dauphin Florian | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 | |
| 26 | Mezgec Luka | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 27 | Van Rooy Kenneth | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 28 | Kepplinger Rainer | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 29 | Van Lerberghe Bert | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 30 | Märkl Niklas | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 31 | Reynders Jens | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 32 | Cahyadi Aiman | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 33 | Reinders Elmar | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 34 | Ibanez Javier | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 35 | Pesenti Thomas | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 36 | Erzen Zak | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 37 | Johnston Calum | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 38 | Basset Pierre-Henry | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 39 | Vinokurov Nicolas | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 40 | Elosegui Iñigo | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 00 | |
| 41 | Dunbar Edward | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 42 | González Abner | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 | |
| 43 | Garibbo Nicolo | JCL Team Ukyo | + 00 | |
| 44 | Pidcock Tom | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 45 | Uriarte Diego | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 00 | |
| 46 | Buratti Nicolò | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 47 | van den Broek Frank | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 48 | Bregnhøj Mathias | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 49 | Voisard Yannis | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 50 | Zukowsky Nickolas | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 51 | Pasqualon Andrea | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 52 | de Bod Stefan | Terengganu Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 53 | Dversnes Fredrik | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 54 | Hopkins Dylan | Roojai Insurance | + 00 | |
| 55 | Kuzmin Anton | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 56 | van der Meulen Max | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 57 | Eekhoff Nils | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 58 | Parisini Nicolò | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 00 | |
| 59 | Holter Ådne | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 | |
| 60 | Desal Cériel | Wagner Bazin WB | + 00 | |
| 61 | Frison Frederik | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 11 | |
| 62 | Aznar Hugo | Equipo Kern Pharma | + 12 |
The early season sprint king Tim Merlier wins the first stage of AlUla Tour! #AlUlaTourhttps://t.co/gqfVvsDl1p pic.twitter.com/LzJEibasvw
— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) January 28, 2025
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