Merlier abandons Tour
Soudal-Quick Step's Tim Merlier abandoned the Tour de France Sunday after being dropped early in the race. The triple stage winner emerged as the best sprinter in the Tour, but with no more sprint stages left there's little competitive reason for him to stay in. Wednesday's stage 17 is likely to be a breakaway stage, and could also be animated by the green jersey fight but despite his stage wins Merlier was not a likely contender for that classification this year.
