Tim Merlier is not very enthusiastic about the route of the upcoming Tour de France. The fast man from Soudal Quick-Step states that grand tours are featuring fewer and fewer sprint stages. He would find it 'a shame' if pure sprinters hardly get any opportunities anymore.
“Mmm. Six sprint opportunities on paper. But I still want to see if there will actually be that many,” Merlier responds in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, conducted by Jan Bakelants, when asked about his opinion on the 2026 Tour de France route. "Just like this year, we can expect a very tough edition. Especially that final week, man. And that penultimate stage!” The 33-year-old rider refers to one of the two stages to Alpe d'Huez, which goes over the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier, and Col de Sarenne.
“Is all of that really necessary?” Merlier wonders. “There’s a push for fewer sprints in grand tours and more spectacle. But the fact is that climbers and GC contenders also get exhausted and need some recovery in the final phase. It doesn’t always have to get tougher to be exciting. But yeah, who am I? I’m not going to change the race.”
Merlier, who won two stages in the recent Tour de France, sees the number of sprint opportunities in the Tour decreasing. “In boxing, lightweights never face heavyweights. In cycling, in such a big tour, that does happen. It certainly makes the sport exciting, but in a way, it’s also illogical. Are we really going to evolve towards routes where only riders up to 70 kilos have a future and pure sprinters get left behind? That would be a shame.”
World Championships
At the World Championships, Merlier sees the same trend. “As Bert (Merlier’s sprint lead-out man Bert Van Lerberghe, ed.) says: every generation of sprinters should at least get one valid chance at a world title. Nothing wrong with a rainbow race tailored to the fast guys, right? I fear that chance will never come for me.”
The 2028 World Championships, which will take place in Abu Dhabi, do seem to offer opportunities for sprinters. Although, according to Merlier, they are working on creating an artificial climb there. “Next to the circuit. Every year, we see that mountain in the UAE Tour grow in size. And even then: by that time I’ll be approaching my 36th birthday. Undoubtedly, a younger sprint generation will have emerged. For now, I don’t feel like I’m on a downward spiral or getting scared in the sprints. My cycling retirement is definitely not yet in sight.”
| Date | Stage | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04-07 | 1 |  Barcelona | Barcelona |
| 05-07 | 2 | Tarragona | Barcelona |
| 06-07 | 3 | Granollers |  Les Angles |
| 07-07 | 4 | Carcassonne | Foix |
| 08-07 | 5 | Lannemezan | Pau |
| 09-07 | 6 | Pau | Gavarnie-Gèdre |
| 10-07 | 7 | Hagetmau | Bordeaux |
| 11-07 | 8 | Périgueux | Bergerac |
| 12-07 | 9 | Malemort | Ussel |
| 13-07 | 10 | Aurillac | Le Lioran |
| 15-07 | 11 | Vichy | Nevers |
| 16-07 | 12 | Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours | Châlon-sur-Saône |
| 17-07 | 13 | Dole | Belfort |
| 18-07 | 14 | Mulhouse | Le Markstein |
| 19-07 | 15 | Champagnole | Plateau de Solaison |
| 21-07 | 16 | Évian-les-Bains | Thonon-les-Bains |
| 22-07 | 17 | Chambéry | Voiron |
| 23-07 | 18 | Voiron | Orcières-Merlette |
| 24-07 | 19 | Gap | L'Alpe-d'Huez |
| 25-07 | 20 | Bourg-d'Oisans | L'Alpe-d'Huez |
| 26-07 | 21 | Thorny | Paris |
