Tim Merlier on first win of the season: "The first one is already here, that was the goal of this week"

Alpecin-Fenix currently have Mathieu van der Poel out of competition so they are having to rely on their sprinters more for results. Luckily for them, both are performing, as Jasper Philipsen won two stages at the UAE Tour and now Tim Merlier has opened his tally at Tirreno-Adriatico today.

"It feels really good, shape has been good for a long time. Results didn't work out, I feel happy to take my first win here in Italy," Merlier said in a post-race interview.

"It was hectic again, first of all I had to survive the mountains, that was the first goal of today. In the end it was to trust the guys in the team and they brought me in good position, and then yeah it was all for myself and I needed to sprint for the finish," he added.

With an attack by Marc Soler in the final 20 kilometers the peloton had to chase hard to be able to discuss the win between the sprinter teams. Alpecin didn't put much effort into the chasing, and it payed off later as they had the legs to put the Belgian sprinter into position: "It was a bit hectic, we didn't know the time gap. In the end we were there and closed the gap."

"Let's hope, we will see. The first one is already here, that was the goal of this week, now we go for more," he concluded, regarding a possible second victory already tomorrow as the peloton heads to Terni.