Tim Merlier has won the twelfth stage of the Tour de France. After the 179.1 kilometers from Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours to Chalon-sur-Saône – with three fourth-category climbs along the way – the Belgian from Soudal-QuickStep was too fast for the competition in a sprint in which several riders also crashed.

Olav Kooij, the winner of stage 5, finished second, just like the day before. Jasper Philipsen finished third. Huub Artz again, albeit narrowly, reached the top ten in the day’s results. The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE) retained the yellow leader’s jersey.

For the 33-year-old Merlier, it was his third stage victory in this Tour and, after his day successes in 2021 (one) and 2025 (two), his sixth in total in the Tour de France. Two years ago he also took a hat-trick in the Tour of Italy.

Formula 1

Anyone who had carefully studied the route book of the 113th Tour de France could conclude that today the sprinters had their last chance for a day’s success. The Tour traditionally ends next Sunday on the Champs-Élysées, but not before a difficult climb has to be conquered three times.

A bunch sprint in Paris is therefore not an obvious option. Every reason for the fast men in the peloton to be sharp at the start on the Magny-Cours circuit, where eighteen Formula 1 races were held from 1991 to 2008. The Grand Prix was won eight times by the legendary German Michael Schumacher.

Veistroffer flees

Baptiste Veistroffer, voted the most combative rider of the first week, was the first to successfully take off after 27 kilometers. The Frenchman built up a two-minute lead.

After green jersey wearer Mads Pedersen had done well in the intermediate sprint, Ewen Costiou, Mattéo Vercher and Damiano Caruso gave chase. After about 60 kilometers they joined Veistroffer. They headed towards Chalon-sur-Saône with less than a minute’s margin, where Amsterdammer Dylan Groenewegen had been the last stage winner in 2019.

The collaboration with the leading quartet suddenly stopped 60 kilometers from the finish. Veistroffer and his compatriot Costiou apparently saw merit in the flight and continued the mission together. Ten kilometers further on, however, Costiou had also seen it and Veistroffer, forty seconds ahead of the pack, was again in the lead.

Quinn Simmons suddenly threw in the towel with 35 kilometers to go on a piece of ascending road surface. A small number of riders responded to the acceleration of the American champion from Lidl-Trek, who also immediately put an end to Veistroffer’s solo.

Evil plans

However, the fourteen, including Daan Hoole and Tim Marsman, were not given any space by the peloton. But it was clear: the game was on the wagon early. Lidl-Trek in particular repeatedly showed that it had nefarious plans and that seriously embarrassed the sprinter teams. However, there was no split in the peloton.

Two sharp bends just before entering the last 2,000 meters did not cause any problems. An Alpecin train brought Jasper Philipsen in a seat to the last meters, where several riders crashed hard due to the actions of Fernando Gaviria, who tapped a rear wheel.

That didn’t bother Merlier. He threatened to get trapped for a moment, but still found space and raced to his third stage victory of this Tour. The Belgian left Dutch ace Kooij and compatriot Philipsen behind him.

Kooij was not entirely happy with his performance today. “I had to wait until I really had the space. I felt like I could only complete the last three steps. And that was too late,” said the 24-year-old Decathlon rider, who is in his first Tour de France.

Son

To the extent necessary, Merlier found “extra motivation” in the presence of his family, said the fast Belgian with his son by his side. “He’s still young but maybe he’ll remember this later. We can show him the footage later.”

Merlier had become trapped on Wednesday and only crossed the line in fifteenth. A day later he got his revenge. “Today I found some space. I had to stay calm for a while and was able to launch my sprint again. I knew that this was the kind of finish that suits me.”