Tim Merlier ready for third crack at Paris-Roubaix success: "There must be a bit of luck and I hope to have that"
CyclingFriday, 07 April 2023 at 15:00
Tim Merlier will return to Paris-Roubaix for a third crack at achieving a famous win on the French cobbles. After finishing 48th and 40th the last two years, Merlier is confident of being more involved in the final this time around.
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"It is a difficult race to predict. The form is good, but Paris-Roubaix remains Paris-Roubaix. There must be a bit of luck and I hope to have that this year," the Soudal - Quick-Step rider reveals in an interview with Sporza. "The tactical discussion has yet to come, but I suspect that I will be given a nice task again. In the Tour of Flanders I accomplished that task well."
Last year, luck was something Merlier was sadly lacking. Two punctures and a bad crash that him injure his elbow and be subsequently ruled out of the Giro d'Italia. "I prefer to ride the final. But if I can reach the final from the early break - which has happened many times in Roubaix - that would be great. It would be nice to see my good condition again."
"For me personally, my year is not bad. I won 5 races and I prove that I am a worthy champion," continues Merlier who achieved Soudal - Quick-Step's only spring Classics success at Nokere Koerse. "But with the team we miss those victories in the classics. It just has to go well and hopefully that will be the case on Sunday. I think we have the best chance on Sunday to win that classic with the team. When the race is successful on Sunday if I or someone from the team wins."
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Nov 05, 13:04
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- wow, you’re like a REALLY angry little fella, aren’t you? these discussions are supposed to be FUN, brother. if you find them this upsetting you should MAYYYYBE go for a walk, or get some tropical fish to look at or something. beyond my concern for your emotional well being, i gotta say i don’t understand a few things you tried to say. your point about van der poel at liege? i don’t get it. and exactly who are the “you people” who are persecuting you over pogacar’s walk-over at the giro. anyway, good luck with everything.OCexile08-11-2024
- Lefevere is such a clown.Sweep08-11-2024
- You're spewing nonsense. MVDP was at Liege too. Jonas did his best ever numbers in the Tour, as did Evenepoel. In the worlds, MVDP wasn't the only one chasing and a large part of the route was flat. Oh, did you forget that Pogi soloed 80 ks? What about the 80ks at Strade Bianche? The training ride at the Lombardia? And man, I can't stand how dismissive you people are of his Giro dominance. "There wasn't anyone around to challenge him" yeah well whenever a cyclist wins it's because there was no one else around who would be good enough. I'm sick of this imaginary opponents argument. Who was supposed to be there to challenge him anyways? Do you think Roglic or Evenepoel could do anything? Or Vingegaard, who always trains to peak for the Tour?Ayrton08-11-2024
- What a great ride that day, and what a great young rider. I am really looking forward to what he'll do next, and his attitude about racing is great. Let's hope he keeps that.RidesHills08-11-2024
- everyone should TRY to remember that just a year ago it was pascal the couldn’t remotely hang with vingegaard at the tour. the explanation for that was that pog had injured his wrist and that had interfered with his preparation. compare what a damaged wrist would do to your prep vs. what happened to vingegaard. i think a 100% healthy pogacar vs. a 100% healthy vingegaard at the tour is just about even money. hopefully that’s what we’ll get.OCexile08-11-2024
- i still believe that a thoroughly healthy jonas is at least a match for pogačar. i think some of tadej’s new aura of crushing invincibility comes from a year when everything lined up for him just right. to be clear, i’m NOT saying he’s not the most gifted rider on the planet! he IS! but… liége is made for him; there was NOBODY at the giro to challenge; jonas, for all his spirit, was broken and a shell of his true self at the tour. the Worlds course was a perfect fit for this year for pog, where slimmed down but still MUCH bigger van der poel still kept the gap under a minute in a course that REALLY didn’t suit HIM. my point is that i actually don’t think tadej suddenly launched himself to a level of ability far, far above where he’d been before. he’s a great rider that had an historically great year, but i don’t believe he’s become something NEW, and UNBEATABLE. if he’s fully healthy, i really expect jonas to be as much of a handful for pog as pog is for him.OCexile08-11-2024
- seriously, ESPECIALLY when paired with each other. when they put bob with phil, it’s like bob KNOWS he needs to tighten everything up because phil (god bless him) is losing his marbles. bob is actually pretty GOOD when he’s on phil duty. and when they took vande velde OUT of the booth with bob an put him on the back of a motorcycle, he was suddenly smart and edgy again. put those two guys TOGETHER though, and bob suddenly becomes the dumbest, sloppiest, most ill-informed pogacar and van aert fanboy on the planet, unleashing a constant stream of dim-witted, chuckling hyperbole, and christian is his enabling toady. yuk. after GCN folded i had to listen to wayyyy to much of their “dumb and dumber” show. they must be separated forever.OCexile08-11-2024
- Good news. Cycling world at least doesn't have rampant racism. But, I think it is partly because it is hard to dislike Biniam. He seems like a jolly good person even though he's a sprinter. Some sprinters are very aggressive/cocky.
KerisVroom08-11-2024 - Good news. Cycling world at least doesn't have rampant racism. But, I think it is partly because it is hard to dislike Biniam. He seems like a jolly good person even though he's a sprinter. Some sprinters are very aggressive/cocky.KerisVroom08-11-2024
- It will be a great race until the stage where it's not. Jonas can only hope for injury or illness to Pogacar. And Remco? There's no training, food, or technology that going to grant him 9 extra minutes in this race.Sweep08-11-2024