Stage 3 winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) is hoping the first Giro d’Italia rest day “will do wonders” for his injuries after crashing hard in the stage 7 individual time trial.
The Belgian’s incident wasn’t spotted on the broadcast due to not being a contender for the stage but photos of Merlier and comments from himself and team staff revealed that he had gone down and sustained more than just superficial injuries.
“Tim fell quite hard during the time trial on a fast section due to a bump in the road and tumbled over his handlebars. His entire side is open. He is grazed from ankle to elbow," said sports director Iljo Keisse to Het Laatste Nieuws.
Merlier was critical of the circumstances he went down in during the solo effort into Perugia on a stage that he was simply trying to get through to save himself for the next sprint opportunities and looked dejected explaining the crash before stage 9.
“It's a shame because it was a really stupid crash. I was on my own on the TT bike, dead easy and then you have a stupid crash on the straight,” Merlier told Eurosport.
Merlier could have been one of the contenders for today’s stage 9 which finishes in Naples but after going down so heavily, it looks less likely that he will survive the punchy hills that line the final 40km and it will just be a day to get around safely.
“Everything is a bit painful, that’s normal I think. I don’t feel that ready but I’ll give it a try. If I feel that I’m not alright, then I’ll search for a good moment to let it go,” he told the broadcaster.
Soudal-QuickStep expect Alpecin to pace full gas for Kaden Groves into Naples due to the nature of the hilly parcours but thankfully for Merlier, even if he can’t follow, a rest day will come tomorrow allowing him to reset for the second week.
“I have quite a bit of pain in my groin. But I'm not the only one in the pack either, I think,” Merlier told Het Nieuwsblad. “Yesterday I survived a tough mountain stage the day after my fall, now I hope that tomorrow's rest day will do wonders.”
Merlier is one of the two bunch sprint winners from this year’s Giro alongside Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) after he claimed the third stage in a tight finish ahead of the Italian into Fossano.
