Experienced sprint ace Tim Merlier is set to carry much of the weight of Tour de France expectations for Soudal-QuickStep this summer, in what will be the Belgian squad's first participation in three years in cycling's biggest bike race without Remco Evenepoel.
After Evenepoel signed for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe over the winter, Soudal-QuickStep have already remodelled their Spring Classics campaign to revive a traditional interest in the cobbled one-day races of the north. Following from that and with Merlier's third win in as many years in Scheldeprijs as the high point, this summer the WorldTour squad were now looking to see what they could achieve in the Tour without their former GC leader.
