As he crossed the line in Bordeaux first on stage seven of the 2026 Tour de France on Friday, there was enormous relief for Tim Merlier.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider didn't scream, get carried away, that's not his style; instead, he dusted off both shoulders, as if he'd had an intense case of dandruff halfway through the day.
There was a meaning behind the gesture, of course, more complicated than the traditional hands-in-the-air approach. It was about proving he had taken the pressure of his svelte shoulders.
"We had a meeting before the Tour, before the TTT on the bus, and the CEO, Jurgen Forë put a bit too much pressure on my shoulders," Merlier explained in his winner's press conference.
You can picture the scene, the team boss wanting to see success on the biggest stage, and applying it a bit to thickly. The thing is, Merlier does always deliver at the Tour, something the 33-year-old was keen to point out. He's raced three Tours de France, and won at least one stage at each of them, it's not a bad record.
However, things have not been easy this year, or even at this Tour. On Thursday, Bert Van Lerberghe, Merlier's leadout man, abandoned on the Col du Tourmalet.
"I missed him a bit in the stage, and I think we're going to miss him even more in the other stages too," the winner explained. "For sure I miss him, with Bert there's a bit more space in the bunch, because he's a big guy."
2026 did not start simply, with the Belgian not racing until late March due to a knee injury, so the whole season has been an uphill battle.
"It was a difficult start of the season, it was a bit annoying, that I couldn't start the season like usual," he explained. "When I was back in competition, I won Scheldeprijs, so I knew my sprint level was still there. To go to the Tour was big pressure. Everything was going well, but I missed two months of training, so it's always scary to go to the highest level of cycling. My sprint is still there, so I'm happy."
However, the biggest thing working against Merlier, according to him, is not his slow start to the year, or his missing teammate, but how hard this route is, and how few opportunities there are for the fast men. Time is running out for them to make a dent on this Tour, already. The first bunch sprint didn't come until stage five, while the last could feasibly be stage 11.
"After the third place in the first sprint stages, I knew I only had four or five opportunities left, and once a rider wins, he normally takes a second one," Merlier said of his chances. "You start to be scared, because there aren't a lot of opportunities, but I'm really happy I can take another win here.
"I remember when I was younger there was a lot more opportunities, and I also saw that this is the hardest Tour in years, so if you're here, as a sprinter, you feel it will be a hard three weeks. Let's hope for the rest of my career I can go to Grand Tours and have opportunities, otherwise it would be just nor possible for us any more in cycling.
