Tim Merlier won stage nine of the Tour de France in a sprint finish after Mathieu van der Poel’s hopes of an audacious breakaway victory were dashed inside the final kilometre.
Van der Poel and team-mate Jonas Rickaert attacked at the start of the 174.1km run from Chinon to Chateauroux and the Dutch former world champion produced a gutsy effort that just fell short of delivering his second win in this year’s race.
Instead, Belgium’s Merlier was able to celebrate again, having also won stage three, as he came past Jonathan Milan and held off fast-finishing compatriot Arnaud de Lie.
“Five minutes [to Van der Poel in the break] is a lot but we tried to chase and also the other teams started to help. The pacing was quite high at the front, but it was hard for all the guys – the bunch was nervous,” said Merlier.
“In the end we just went all in and I’m happy I can win my second stage here.”
There has been debate in recent days about the long-term value of flat sprint stages in the Tour, which can unfold in predictable fashion, with the interest confined to the final stages.
Chateauroux, which was dubbed ‘Cavendish City’ in honour of Sir Mark, who took the first of his Tour-record 35 career stage victories here in 2008, has long been the preserve of sprinters.
However, Van der Poel’s valiant attempt to end that streak and the race for position in the wind broke the race apart.
And the Dutchman revealed afterwards that he had embarked on the two-man expedition because team-mate Rickaert had a dream that he has now achieved after winning the day’s combativity award.
“We wanted to go for it today because it’s his dream to be on the podium of a Tour de France,” Van der Poel said.
“It’s hard not to be able to finish it off but we put up a good show today.”
There was no change at the top of the general classification, with defending champion Tadej Pogacar remaining 54 seconds clear of Remco Evenepoel. Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard is fourth, one minute 17 seconds off yellow.
However, there was a blow for Pogacar as key lieutenant Joao Almeida abandoned the race as a result of injuries suffered on stage seven.
On Monday, the race takes in eight categorised climbs on Bastille Day as it travels 165.3km from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy in the Massif Central.
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