Chalon-sur-Saône (France) (AFP) – Tour de France sprint king Tim Merlier said he would now just look to "survive" at the Grand Boucle after claiming a third stage victory on Thursday.
Issued on: 16/07/2026 - 19:26
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The 33-year-old Belgian underlined his status as the fastest sprinter in the world as he claimed a sixth Tour stage victory overall, having won once in 2021 and twice last year.But with no other obvious sprint stages left at this year's 113th edition of the Tour, Merlier will now merely concentrate on trying to get to Paris to finish on the Champs Elysees.When asked what his aim at the Tour would be from now on, Merlier said: "Try to survive, maybe.""Of course, everyone wants to go to Paris," he added."If you are mentally (given) up, you don't go to Paris, but if you have the feeling, 'okay, I'm able to follow a good groupetto who want to go to Paris', then of course it's more easy."I remember from last year, the last week was really a fight with myself, but now I see on my watch (that my) recovery is okay day by day."Last year (that) was different."One thing that Merlier will not be targeting is the sprinters' green points jersey.Although he has won three stages, he is down in fourth in those standings, 50 points behind former world champion Mads Pedersen.One difference between the pair is that Pedersen has worked hard to take intermediate sprint points, while his team has often pushed the pace on short climbs to try to drop the fastest sprinters such as Merlier before those sprints.
