Tim Merlier will be tired tonight. The Belgian sprinter on Soudal-Quick Step had quite the active day, hopping in the day’s main breakaway and then powering to the win in his first Grand Tour since the 2022 Vuelta España. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) almost foiled the sprint finish by countering a late attack from EF Education-EasyPost’s Mikkel Frolich Honoré, but the pair – joined by Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas – were overhauled just a few hundred meters from the line.
A strange sprint stage
- After a hilly opening stage and a summit finish on stage 2, Monday’s 166 km ride from Novara to Fossano represented the first chance for fans to see a bunch gallop take place among the exceptionally sprinter-heavy field.
- It almost didn’t happen, at least not the way sprints usually do. After an early two-rider move was re-caught, a large move went clear around the race’s halfway point, and its composition was striking: among the 26 in the break were most of the race’s top sprinters, including Merlier, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, Intermarché-Wanty’s Biniam Girmay, Jayco-AlUla’s Caleb Ewan, and Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike). At one point, Eurosport commentator Robbie McEwen cracked that it was essentially a grupetto, just off the front.
- With so many top sprinters (and teams) up front, the pack didn’t initially chase, but then dramatically upped the pace to make the catch with around 45 km to go, at which point the intensity tap shut back off just as abruptly.
- It was gruppo compatto to the finish from there, with the exception of Honoré’s attack around 3 km to go, which Pogačar quickly countered. Behind, only Thomas was able to get across and the trio briefly had a lead of a few seconds as the chase struggled to organize. Lidl-Trek finally closed the gap with just a few hundred meters to race, and Merlier shot just clear of Milan and Girmay for the win.
Brief analysis
- Pogačar is racing with his usual aggressiveness. Even on a sprint stage he wasn’t content to just sit in, instead jumping out of the pack to grab a couple of bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint point. Thomas mitigated the damage by going with the Slovenian, but Pogačar now leads by 46 seconds after just three stages.
- Although the sprinters almost were denied the chance at victory, the third stage showed just how deep this field is, with fully 16 riders – from different teams no less – vying for the victory. One notable omission: DSM Firmenich-PostNL’s Fabio Jakobsen, who came in 2:47 down. (“My legs exploded” he said afterward.) With two more likely sprint stages to follow Tuesday and Wednesday, we may get a very clear idea of who’s on form and who’s not.
- After two stages, GC hopeful Romain Bardet (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) was already well off the pace, 2:33 behind Pogačar. But according to team director Matt Winston, it’s not an issue of form: Bardet has been fighting GI issues that were so acute he vomited mid-stage on Sunday, Winston told GCN. Winston says Bardet is improving and there’s no panic; the Frenchman finished in the main field today.
I saw Honoré and then Pog go, and I was like, ‘might as well just go.’ But jeepers, man, it was solid. He’s kicking my head in!
-Geraint Thomas on the unexpected late-race move
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