The Tour de France, unless something truly astounding happens, will never be won by a sprinter. However, when the opening stages are relatively flat as they so often are, it can give the fast men a chance to at least pull on the yellow jersey for a day or more if they play their cards right.
One rider with his sights firmly set on grabbing that famous jersey is Tim Merlier of the Belgian Soudal-Quick Step squad. He's currently the European champion and one of this year's in-form sprinters.
