Tim Merlier
 Merlier in 2022 as Belgian national road race champion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Tim Merlier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 October 1992 Kortrijk, Flanders, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Soudal–Quick-Step | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines |
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| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rider type |
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| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2015 | Sunweb–Revor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Vastgoedservice–Golden Palace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Vérandas Willems–Crelan (road) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Crelan–Charles (cyclo-cross) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Pauwels Sauzen–Vastgoedservice (road) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Creafin–Tüv Süd (cyclo-cross)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Corendon–Circus[2][3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Soudal–Quick-Step | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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Tim Merlier (born 30 October 1992) is a Belgian cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step.[5]
Considered to be one of the fastest sprinters in the world, Merlier has nearly thirty wins as a professional, including Grand Tour stage victories at both the 2021 and 2024 Giro d'Italia and the 2021 Tour de France,[6][7] and is a two-time winner of the Belgian National Road Race Championships, winning in 2019 and 2022.[8][9] Merlier also competes in cyclo-cross, having previously raced at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.[10][11]
Career
[edit]Early years
[edit]Initially a cyclo-cross specialist, Merlier turned professional with Sunweb–Revor in 2011, after having been a national junior champion two seasons prior. With the team, he saw modest success on the under-23 level, winning a round of the 2012–13 Under-23 Bpost Bank Trophy, in addition to several podiums in high level races.
Road beginnings (2015–2018)
[edit]In 2015, he joined Vastgoedservice–Golden Palace, where he had his first notable result in a road race, placing third in Schaal Sels. The following year, he took his first pro road win at the Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem.
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Following this win, he transferred to UCI Professional Continental team Vérandas Willems–Crelan for the 2017 season. In his second season with the team, he took two stage victories and the points classification at the Danmark Rundt.[12]
Corendon–Circus (2019–2022)
[edit]From this point on, his road career started to take off, joining Pauwels Sauzen–Vastgoedservice in 2019.[2] This year marked his most notable win yet: the Belgian national road race championship, in addition to another stage of the Danmark Rundt as well as the one-day Elfstedenronde. In 2020, he again had three wins, including his first UCI ProSeries event: the Brussels Cycling Classic, and his first win at the UCI WorldTour level, winning stage six of Tirreno–Adriatico, both in sprint finishes.[13][14][15]
In 2021, Merlier took several victories in Belgian semi-classics, including the Bredene Koksijde Classic, Le Samyn, Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré, Ronde van Limburg and a second win of the Elfstedenronde.[16][17] He also placed third in the Dwars door Vlaanderen.[18] In May, he entered his first Grand Tour: the Giro d'Italia, where he won the second stage in a sprint ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo and Elia Viviani.[19] In the process he took over the lead of the points classification, but dropped out after stage 10. In July, he took arguably the most important result of his career so far, winning stage three of the Tour de France, outsprinting Jasper Philipsen and Nacer Bouhanni.[7]
Merlier had a strong start to 2022, winning the second stage of Tirreno–Adriatico in March, followed by the Nokere Koerse and Classic Brugge–De Panne later that month.[20][21][22] In June, he was crowned that National Champion for a second time in a photo finish with Jordi Meeus.[9] In August he won the bronze medal in the European Road Race Championships, and competed in his first Vuelta a España. He ended the year with a win at the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen in October.
Soudal–Quick-Step (2023–)
[edit]In August 2022, Merlier signed a three-year contract with UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step.[23] Early into his first year with the team, he took several wins in the Middle East, including a stage of the Tour of Oman and two stages and the points classification of the UAE Tour. He maintained this momentum going into March with a stage win of Paris–Nice, and defending his title at Nokere Koerse ten days later.[24] In August, he won two stages of the Tour de Pologne, followed by the Grand Prix de Fourmies a month later.[25] In total, Merlier had 11 wins this season, his most successful to date.
Going into 2024, Merlier again showed strong form in the early season, taking two stages and the points classification of the AlUla Tour and three stages and the points classification of the UAE Tour. He placed second to Jasper Philipsen on stage two of Tirreno–Adriatico, but beat him at the Nokere Koerse, taking the race for a third consecutive year.[26][27] He again was outsprinted by Philipsen a week later at the Classic Brugge–De Panne but rallied to win Scheldeprijs in early April.[28] Merlier started the 2024 Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour since the 2022 Vuelta a España, where he won a bunch sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan on Stage 3 into Fossano, propelling himself into the maglia ciclamino.
Personal life
[edit]Merlier's brother, Braam, also formerly competed as a professional cyclist.
On February 1, 2023, Merlier and his girlfriend Cameron Vandenbroucke had a son, Jules.[29]
Major results
[edit]Cyclo-cross
[edit]- 2009–2010
- 1st
National Junior Championships - 1st Junior Bredene
- Junior Superprestige
- 1st Vorselaar
- 2011–2012
- Under-23 UCI World Cup
- 2nd Heusden-Zolder
- Under-23 Superprestige
- 2nd Hoogstraten
- 2012–2013
- 1st Contern
- Under-23 Bpost Bank Trophy
- 1st Lille
- Under-23 Superprestige
- 3rd Hamme
- 2013–2014
- 2nd Under-23 Kalmthout
- Under-23 Bpost Bank Trophy
- 3rd Loenhout
- 2014–2015
- 1st Illnau
- 1st Rhein-Neckar
- 3rd Zonnebeke
- 3rd Bredene
- 2015–2016
- DVV Trophy
- 2nd Loenhout
- Superprestige
- 3rd Gieten
- 2016–2017
- Brico Cross
- 3rd Maldegem
- 2017–2018
- Superprestige
- 2nd Middelkerke
- DVV Trophy
- 2nd Lille
- Brico Cross
- 3rd Maldegem
- 2019–2020
- DVV Trophy
- Ethias Cross
- 2nd Bredene
- 2nd Wachtebeke
- 2nd Otegem
- 2021–2022
- Coupe de France
- 3rd Troyes II
- 2022–2023
- Exact Cross
- 1st Zonnebeke
- 2nd Saint Sauveur de Landemont
- 2023–2024
- Exact Cross
- 3rd Zonnebeke
Gravel
[edit]- 2023
- 2nd
UEC European Championships - 2nd National Championships
- 2024
- UCI World Series
- 1st Blaavands Huk
Road
[edit]Source:[30]
- 2015
- 3rd Schaal Sels
- 5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23
- 2016 (1 pro win)
- 1st Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
- 5th Ronde van Limburg
- 9th Halle–Ingooigem
- 9th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23
- 2017
- 3rd Schaal Sels
- 7th Dwars door het Hageland
- 2018 (2)
- Danmark Rundt
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stages 3 & 5
- 1st
- 3rd Ronde van Limburg
- 5th Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
- 2019 (3)
- 1st Road race, National Championships
- 1st Elfstedenronde
- Tour Alsace
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 1 & 4
- 1st
- 1st Stage 5 Danmark Rundt
- 2nd Antwerp Port Epic
- 3rd Münsterland Giro
- 5th Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
- 6th Dwars door het Hageland
- 6th Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde
- 7th Paris–Chauny
- 2020 (3)
- 1st Brussels Cycling Classic
- 1st Stage 6 Tirreno–Adriatico
- 1st Stage 4 Tour of Antalya
- 3rd Three Days of Bruges–De Panne
- 4th Scheldeprijs
- 5th Dwars door het Hageland
- 2021 (9)
- 1st Bredene Koksijde Classic
- 1st Le Samyn
- 1st Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré
- 1st Ronde van Limburg
- 1st Elfstedenronde
- Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 2
- Held
after Stages 2–4 & 8–9
- 1st Stage 3 Tour de France
- Benelux Tour
- 1st Stages 1 & 4
- 2nd Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
- 2nd Grand Prix d'Isbergues
- 3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen
- 3rd Antwerp Port Epic
- 7th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
- 7th Brussels Cycling Classic
- 9th Dwars door het Hageland
- 2022 (5)
- 1st Road race, National Championships
- 1st Classic Brugge–De Panne
- 1st Nokere Koerse
- 1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
- 1st Stage 2 Tirreno–Adriatico
- 3rd
Road race, UEC European Championships - 3rd Bredene Koksijde Classic
- 3rd Elfstedenronde
- 6th Gent–Wevelgem
- 6th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- 7th Famenne Ardenne Classic
- 9th Scheldeprijs
- 10th Ronde van Limburg
- 2023 (11)
- 1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
- 1st Nokere Koerse
- UAE Tour
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1, 2 (TTT) & 6
- 1st
- Okolo Slovenska
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 2 & 4
- 1st
- Tour de Pologne
- 1st Stages 1 & 7
- 1st Stage 1 Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 1 Tour of Oman
- 1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk
- 2nd Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
- 2nd Gullegem Koerse
- 4th Ronde van Limburg
- 8th Omloop van het Houtland
- 2024 (16)
- 1st
Road race, UEC European Championships - 1st
Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen - 1st Scheldeprijs
- 1st Nokere Koerse
- 1st Gooikse Pijl
- Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 3, 18 & 21
- Held after Stage 3
- UAE Tour
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1, 4 & 6
- 1st
- AlUla Tour
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stages 3 & 4
- 1st
- Tour of Belgium
- 1st Stages 2 & 5
- 1st Stage 5 Tour de Pologne
- 2nd Classic Brugge–De Panne
- 8th Gent–Wevelgem
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
[edit]| Grand Tour | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia
|
DNF | — | — | 138 |
 Tour de France
|
DNF | — | — | — |
 Vuelta a España
|
— | 132 | — | — |
Classics results timeline
[edit]| Monument | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | Has not contested during his career | ||||||||
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | — | — | 43 | 65 | |||
| Paris–Roubaix | — | NH | 48 | 40 | 23 | DNF | |||
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Has not contested during his career | ||||||||
| Giro di Lombardia | |||||||||
| Classic | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | — | 25 | 38 | 12 | — | — | |||
| Brugge–De Panne | — | 3 | — | 1 | — | 2 | |||
| Gent–Wevelgem | — | 27 | 34 | 6 | 14 | 8 | |||
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | NH | 3 | — | DNF | — | |||
| Scheldeprijs | — | 4 | 68 | 9 | — | 1 | |||
| Brussels Cycling Classic | 33 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 61 | — | |||
Major championships timeline
[edit]| Event | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 World Championships
|
Road race | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
 European Championships
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Road race | DNE | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | 3 | — | 1 |
 National Championships
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Road race | DNF | DNF | 6 | 76 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 6 |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
[edit]- ^ "Timo Kielich tweede in Baal, Eva Lechner pakt vijfde plaats" [Timo Kielich second in Baal, Eva Lechner takes fifth place]. Creafin–Fristads (in Dutch). Veldritpromotie Morkhoven. 1 January 2020. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
Tim Merlier eindigde 9de, Gianni Vermeersch elfde. [Tim Merlier finished ninth, Gianni Vermeersch eleventh.]
- ^ a b "Tim Merlier per direct naar Corendon-Circus, Fransman Antoine Benoist wordt stagiair" [Tim Merlier goes directly to Corendon-Circus, Frenchman Antoine Benoist becomes a trainee]. Corendon–Circus (in Dutch). Team Ciclismo Mundial BVBA. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ "De nieuwe speelkameraadjes van MVDP: "Er zal meer naar ons gekeken worden"" [The new playmates for MVDP: "We will be looked at more"]. Sporza (in Dutch). Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
- ^ "Alpecin-Fenix". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Tim Merlier". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Tim Merlier holds off Italian duo to win second stage of Giro d'Italia". The Guardian. PA Media. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Tim Merlier claims his first Tour de France stage win". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "National road race championships roundup". VeloNews. Pocket Outdoor Media, LLC. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
Tim Merlier (Corendon-Circus) beat Timothy Dupont (Wanty-Gobert) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who came second and third respectively in the men's race.
- ^ a b Fletcher, Patrick (26 June 2022). "Tim Merlier sprints to victory in chaotic Belgian Championship road race". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "2016 Cyclo-croos World Championships: Entries list men's elite" (PDF). wk2016.be. p. 2. Retrieved 1 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tim Merlier". cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ Qui est Tim Merlier, le favori des Championnats de Belgique ?
- ^ "Results – Brussels Cycling Classic 2020" (PDF) (pdf). Brussels Cycling Classic. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh (12 September 2020). "Tirreno-Adriatico: Tim Merlier wins stage 6". CyclingNews. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Tim Merlier remporte au sprint sa première victoire en World Tour
- ^ Fletcher, Patrick (2 March 2021). "Tim Merlier wins Le Samyn". CyclingNews. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "Merlier wins GP Monseré". CyclingNews. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Fletcher, Patrick (31 March 2021). "Van Baarle parlays 50km solo attack into Dwars door Vlaanderen victory". CyclingNews. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (9 May 2021). "Giro d'Italia: Tim Merlier wins sprint on stage 2". CyclingNews. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (8 March 2022). "Tirreno-Adriatico: Tim Merlier wins stage 2". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (23 March 2022). "Merlier beats Groenewegen in Classic Brugge-De Panne photo finish". CyclingNews. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ Weislo, Laura (16 March 2022). "Tim Merlier wins Nokere Koerse". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl officialise les arrivées de Merlier, Hirt et Pedersen". lequipe.fr (in French). L'Équipe. 5 August 2022.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (15 March 2023). "Nokere Koerse: Tim Merlier wins men's one-day race". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (29 July 2023). "Tour de Pologne: Tim Merlier wins stage 1". CyclingNews. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair; Moultrie, James (5 March 2024). "Tirreno-Adriatico: Jasper Philipsen wins stage 2 in chaotic sprint". CyclingNews. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ^ Weislo, Laura (13 March 2024). "Tim Merlier wins Nokere Koerse for third consecutive year". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Weislo, Laura (3 April 2024). "Tim Merlier nets Soudal-QuickStep the victory at Scheldeprijs". CyclingNews.
- ^ "Tim Merlier en Cameron Vandenbroucke verwelkomen zoon Jules". Wielerflits.nl (in Dutch). 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Tim Merlier". FirstCycling.com. FirstCycling AS. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
External links
[edit]
- Tim Merlier at UCI
- Tim Merlier at Cycling Archives (archived)
- Tim Merlier at ProCyclingStats
- Tim Merlier at Cycling Quotient
- Tim Merlier at CycleBase
