A second sprint stage.
Merlier, earlier: Baptiste Veistroffer attacked at KM0 again and this time was joined by Jakub Otropa. It might be a forlorn move but both teams are visible again and when the rest day comes and we look at the prize money standings so far as a proxy for which teams are the most visible, they certainly won’t be last.
Alpecin-PremierTech lead the chase for much of the day, notable again as it’s yet to pay off. Meanwhile Uno-X had a quick team attack, a real move or a dress-rehearsal for days to tome?
Tim Merlier won the sprint, simply the fastest in the finish but there in part because he bumped shoulders with Mathieu van der Poel and came off the better, then with help from Jasper Stuyven. Van der Poel delivered a luxury lead-out to Jasper Philipsen but the Belgian couldn’t build on it, fading. Fernando Gaviria came up on the right and looked like it could be 2018 again but it was evanescent and with 150m to go Merlier had the opening and kicked clear.
Two stages in and one for Kooij, now Merlier but no obvious hierarchy, either from sprint trains and lead-outs; or among the sprinters.
The Route: 180km and 1,150m of vertical gain. The start and finish are not far away, Bergerac to Périgueux was a 54km time trial in 2014. It’s scenic countryside and not much to write home about, the marked climbs are easy. The approach from Lalinde onwards has its street furniture and more coming into the finish.
The Finish: a ride into Bergerac – but not the town centre – and then out. This avoids some urban traps and tight corners traps but the roads are not big boulevards.
The Contenders: informed by two sprints now Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is a contender but Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) is looking better. Biniam Girmay (NSN) was third on Stage 6 and starting to close in on Pedersen but narrowing the gap for now, a result here will help his quest. Olav Kooij (Decathlon-CMA CGM) is still among the contenders and again it’ll be hard for the rest of the field to get ahead of these four.
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Merlier |
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Philipsen, Girmay, Kooij |
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Kanter |
Weather: hot and sunny, 38°C. A 5-10km/h breeze from the south.
TV: KM0 is at 1.25pm and the finish is forecast for 5.30pm CEST. The scenery is pleasant today especially when viewed from a helicopter but not stunning. If you want to ration screen time, save plenty for tomorrow’s stage.
Would you not say that Van der Poel delviered a luxury lead out, but 200 metres too early? Still, Merlier would probably have had the better of him.
A better Philipsen would have managed with this, but yes, dropped off too early. Didn’t put in the preview but thinking if Philipsen wants to win then ideally he leaves it as late as possible to come off the wheels, he seemed to slow visibly when having put himself in the wind. Easily said than done.
I don’t have the encyclopedic knowledge of the regulars here, but I don’t recall Tour sprints being won this way very often. Both of the first two winners were well clear of the rest. Is it me, or that different from the norm?
Often with Merlier, yes. Kooij was perhaps more with the circumstances where a lot of riders were out of contention, and more had to come from further back.