Tim Merlier: "You always have to keep believing"

On Sunday, Tim Merlier won the Belgian national championship for the second time in his career. The race ended with a sprint between Tim Merlier, Jordi Meeus, and Jasper Philipsen, and the winner was determined by a photo finish after a hard race.

"I jumped a few times, but at one point I decided to gamble. That was clearly a bad bet. Although we were with two riders, I thought it was over for me," Merlier addmited in a post-race interview. The attacks spread throughout the race took a toll on the peloton and threatened the possibility of a bunch sprint, however luck was on the side of the Alpecin-Fenix rider.

"However, when the second peloton came back, I started to believe in it again and in the end, everything worked out. So you see, you always have to keep believing. It was all along today. I had to start very early, I think Taminiaux didn't understand me well. I shouted hup hup to him, but I got into the wind too early and also had to hold back a bit," he described.

Nevertheless in the final sprint Merlier had the legs to succeed, and has gotten a very important win that he had been seeking, and needing after a rough couple of months where injuries took him out of a lot of racing.