Tim Merlier is clearly well recovered from the illness that kept him out of the Gooikse Pijl last weekend. The Soudal Quick-Step sprinter convincingly won the Omloop van het Houtland today. It was his fifteenth victory of the season, one less than Tadej Pogacar. Merlier hopes to surpass the Slovenian in the remainder of 2025.
"I felt better today than last week and I’m incredibly happy to have delivered the victory for the team," Merlier said after the Omloop van het Houtland on the Soudal Quick-Step website. "It was amazing how they controlled the race all day and kept me in a good position."
"It’s fantastic to achieve my fifteenth win this year. It would be a dream to finish the season as the most successful rider in the peloton. It won’t be easy, but I still have a few chances left, starting with the Münsterland Giro next week. I’m going to give everything to top the leaderboard for most individual wins."
Merlier versus Pogacar
On paper, Merlier still has six opportunities to claim victory. First is the Münsterland Giro (October 3), then Binche-Chimay-Binche (October 7), and finally the Tour of Holland (with three sprint opportunities between October 14 and 19). Pogacar, currently on sixteen wins, will still contest the Road World Championships (September 28), the European Road Championships (October 5), and the Giro di Lombardia (October 11). In all these races, the Slovenian is the clear favorite.
