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After missing out on a Grand Tour appearance in 2023, Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) will be back at one of the big three-week races in May for his second Giro d’Italia.
The Belgian’s place on the Giro roster was reportedly confirmed by team boss Patrick Lefevere to Sporza earlier today.
Merlier is one of the winningest riders so far in 2024, equal to Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) after his early-season success of seven victories across the AlUla Tour, UAE Tour and Belgian one-day races.
The sprinter was the sole saving grace for Soudal-QuickStep in Belgium during recent weeks as their struggles continued at the cobbled Classics. Wins at Nokere Koerse and Scheldeprijs were backed up by second at Classic Brugge de Panne and eighth at gent-Wevelgem, but a crash and DNF at Paris-Roubaix ended his Spring on a sour note.
Merlier is set to be joined at the start of the Giro in Venaria Reale by two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe, who will make his debut at the Italian Grand Tour. A strong sprint train can be expected alongside the star pairing with up to eight possible sprint opportunities on the menu in May.
He’ll make up part of a stacked sprinting lineup which is scheduled to include Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
History is on Merlier’s side in Italy having won a stage on debut at the race in 2021. It was on the first road stage of the race and was the Belgian’s first-ever sprint opportunity at a Grand Tour.
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He abandoned the race after stage 10 with fatigue but went on to make his Tour de France debut later that season where he took a stage win on the third day. Merlier also abandoned the Tour that season after getting left behind on the road after nine tough days of racing.
Merlier hasn’t raced a Grand Tour since the Vuelta in 2022, some 18 months ago, but he’s a much more complete rider now and is raring to prove himself at the biggest stages races.
The Belgian becomes even more important for Soudal-QuickStep with Remco Evenepoel’s recent injuries. With the GC star out with a broken collarbone and scapula, it leaves only Merlier and Paul Magnier as available riders who have taken a win for the Belgian squad in 2024.
