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Cycling Weekly
Cycling Weekly
Sport
Peter Cossins

Tim Merlier: It's not up to me to say I'm the best sprinter in the world

Tim Merlier Jasper Philipsen Jonathan Milan
Tim Merlier celebrates well clear of the pack in Le Perray-en-Yvelines .

Equal top in the 2025 victory chart alongside Tadej Pogačar and Tom Pidcock going into the opening stage of Paris-Nice with four successes, Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) took the outright lead in that standing with a storming bunch sprint victory. The European champion looked a class apart from his sprint rivals as he claimed his fifth bouquet of the season, an impression that was backed up by a photo finish image that featured just the Belgian rider.

Winner of two stages at the AlUla Tour at the end of January and another two at the UAE Tour in February, 32-year-old Merlier has developed a very useful knack of starting his season very fast and is already well established among the peloton’s sprinting elite. But is the best?

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