
Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) experienced a whirlwind of emotions in the final two kilometres of today's sprint final at the UAE Tour, from thinking "it was over", to avoiding a crash and then suddenly looking like he'd won at a canter with a devastating long sprint.
It wasn't quite the dramatics of winning a crash-marred sprint before colliding into a soigneur and crashing past the finish as it was yesterday. However, the Belgian is struggling to win a textbook sprint at the moment. Not that it will bother him, particularly, as victories are the only currency he deals in.