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Stephen Farrand

'I'm really sorry' - Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier disappointed to miss out in Tour de France sprint on stage 1

Italian Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek and Belgian Jordi Meeus of RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe pictured after the first stage, Lille Metropole to Lille Metropole (185 km), of the 2025 Tour de France cycling race, in Lille, France, on Saturday 05 July 2025. The 112th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 5 July in Lille, France, and will finish in Paris, France on the 27th of July. BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS (Photo by JASPER JACOBS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP).

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) were expected to contest the high-speed, winner-takes-all-sprint on stage 1 of the Tour de France but were left disappointed and apologetic after they missed the decisive split and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took the win and the first yellow jersey.

Milan won a sprint at the finish ahead of Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), some 39 seconds after Philipsen, but it was for 39th place from the chasing peloton.

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