Tim Merlier

Tim Merlier (born 30 October 1992) is a Belgian cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam .

One of the fastest sprinters in the world, Merlier has over 50 wins as a professional, including six stage wins at the Tour de France (2021, 2025–2026) and four at the Giro d'Italia (2021 and 2024). Merlier won the 2024 European Road Race Championship, and is a two-time winner of the Belgian National Road Race Championships, winning in 2019 and 2022.

Merlier also competes in cyclo-cross, having previously raced at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.

Career Early years Initially a cyclo-cross specialist, Merlier turned professional with in 2011, after having been a national junior champion two seasons prior. With the team, he saw modest success on the under-23 level, winning a round of the 2012–13 Under-23 Bpost Bank Trophy, in addition to several podiums in high level races.

Road beginnings (2015–2018) In 2015, he joined , where he had his first notable result in a road race, placing third in Schaal Sels. The following year, he took his first pro road win at the Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem.

Following this win, he transferred to UCI Professional Continental team for the 2017 season. In his second season with the team, he took two stage victories and the points classification at the Danmark Rundt.

Corendon–Circus (2019–2022) From this point on, his road career started to take off, joining in 2019.

In 2021, Merlier took several victories in Belgian semi-classics, including the Bredene Koksijde Classic, Le Samyn, Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré, Ronde van Limburg and a second win of the Elfstedenronde. He also placed third in the Dwars door Vlaanderen. In May, he entered his first Grand Tour: the Giro d'Italia, where he won the second stage in a sprint ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo and Elia Viviani. In the process he took over the lead of the points classification, but dropped out after stage 10. In July, he took arguably the most important result of his career so far, winning stage three of the Tour de France, outsprinting Jasper Philipsen and Nacer Bouhanni. In June, he was crowned that National Champion for a second time in a photo finish with Jordi Meeus. Early into his first year with the team, he took several wins in the Middle East, including a stage of the Tour of Oman and two stages and the points classification of the UAE Tour. He maintained this momentum going into March with a stage win of Paris–Nice, and defending his title at Nokere Koerse ten days later. In August, he won two stages of the Tour de Pologne, followed by the Grand Prix de Fourmies a month later. In total, Merlier had 11 wins this season, his most successful to date.

Going into 2024, Merlier again showed strong form in the early season, taking two stages and the points classification of the AlUla Tour and three stages and the points classification of the UAE Tour. He placed second to Jasper Philipsen on stage two of Tirreno–Adriatico, but beat him at the Nokere Koerse, taking the race for a third consecutive year. He again was outsprinted by Philipsen a week later at the Classic Brugge–De Panne but rallied to win Scheldeprijs in early April. Merlier started the 2024 Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour since the 2022 Vuelta a España, where he won a bunch sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan on Stage 3 into Fossano, propelling himself into the maglia ciclamino. Merlier won again on stages 18 and 21, finishing third overall in the points classification. At the European Road Championships in September, Merlier won the elite men's road race, finishing ahead of Olav Kooij and his Belgian teammate Jasper Philipsen. Merlier finished the season with 16 wins, second only to Tadej Pogacar in the men's peloton.

At the start of the 2025 season, Merlier won stages 1 and 3 of the AlUla Tour. He then followed this up, with back to back stage wins in the UAE Tour, winning stages 5 and 6.

Personal life Merlier's brother, Braam, also formerly competed as a professional cyclist.

On February 1, 2023, Merlier and his girlfriend Cameron Vandenbroucke, daughter of former cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke, had a son, Jules.

Major results Cyclo-cross

2009–2010 1st National Junior Championships 1st Junior Bredene Junior Superprestige 1st Vorselaar 2011–2012 Under-23 UCI World Cup 2nd Heusden-Zolder Under-23 Superprestige 2nd Hoogstraten 2012–2013 1st Contern Under-23 Bpost Bank Trophy 1st Lille Under-23 Superprestige 3rd Hamme 2013–2014 2nd Under-23 Kalmthout Under-23 Bpost Bank Trophy 3rd Loenhout 2014–2015 1st Illnau 1st Rhein-Neckar 3rd Zonnebeke 3rd Bredene 2015–2016 DVV Trophy 2nd Loenhout Superprestige 3rd Gieten 2016–2017 Brico Cross 3rd Maldegem 2017–2018 Superprestige 2nd Middelkerke DVV Trophy 2nd Lille Brico Cross 3rd Maldegem 2019–2020 DVV Trophy 2nd Kortrijk 3rd Hamme Ethias Cross 2nd Bredene 2nd Wachtebeke 2nd Otegem 2021–2022 Coupe de France 3rd Troyes II 2022–2023 Exact Cross 1st Zonnebeke 2nd Saint Sauveur de Landemont 2023–2024 Exact Cross 3rd Zonnebeke

Gravel 2023

2nd National Championships 2024 UCI World Series 1st Blaavands Huk

Road Source:

2015 3rd Schaal Sels 5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23 2016 (1 pro win) 1st Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem 5th Ronde van Limburg 9th Halle–Ingooigem 9th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23 2017 3rd Schaal Sels 7th Dwars door het Hageland 2018 (2) Danmark Rundt 1st Points classification 1st Stages 3 & 5 3rd Ronde van Limburg 5th Grote Prijs Marcel Kint 2019 (3) 1st Road race, National Championships 1st Elfstedenronde Tour Alsace 1st Points classification 1st Prologue (TTT), Stages 1 & 4 1st Stage 5 Danmark Rundt 2nd Antwerp Port Epic 3rd Münsterland Giro 5th Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen 6th Dwars door het Hageland 6th Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde 7th Paris–Chauny 2020 (3) 1st Brussels Cycling Classic 1st Stage 6 Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 4 Tour of Antalya 3rd Three Days of Bruges–De Panne 4th Scheldeprijs 5th Dwars door het Hageland 2021 (9) 1st Bredene Koksijde Classic 1st Le Samyn 1st Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré 1st Ronde van Limburg 1st Elfstedenronde 1st Stage 3 Tour de France Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 2 Held after Stages 2–4 & 8–9 Benelux Tour 1st Stages 1 & 4 2nd Grote Prijs Marcel Kint 2nd Grand Prix d'Isbergues 3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen 3rd Antwerp Port Epic 7th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens 7th Brussels Cycling Classic 9th Dwars door het Hageland 2022 (5) 1st Road race, National Championships 1st Classic Brugge–De Panne 1st Nokere Koerse 1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen 1st Stage 2 Tirreno–Adriatico

3rd Bredene Koksijde Classic 3rd Elfstedenronde 6th Gent–Wevelgem 6th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 7th Famenne Ardenne Classic 9th Scheldeprijs 10th Ronde van Limburg 2023 (11) 1st Grand Prix de Fourmies 1st Nokere Koerse UAE Tour 1st Points classification 1st Stages 1, 2 (TTT) & 6 Okolo Slovenska 1st Points classification 1st Stages 2 & 4 Tour de Pologne 1st Stages 1 & 7 1st Stage 1 Paris–Nice 1st Stage 1 Tour of Oman 1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk 2nd Grote Prijs Marcel Kint 2nd Gullegem Koerse 4th Ronde van Limburg 8th Omloop van het Houtland 2024 (16) 1st Road race, UEC European Championships

1st Scheldeprijs 1st Nokere Koerse 1st Gooikse Pijl Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 3, 18 & 21 Held after Stage 3 UAE Tour 1st Points classification 1st Stages 1, 4 & 6 AlUla Tour 1st Points classification 1st Stages 3 & 4 Tour of Belgium 1st Stages 2 & 5 1st Stage 5 Tour de Pologne 2nd Classic Brugge–De Panne 8th Gent–Wevelgem 2025 (16) 1st Scheldeprijs 1st Brussels Cycling Classic 1st Omloop van het Houtland Tour de France 1st Stages 3 & 9 Paris–Nice 1st Stages 1 & 2 Renewi Tour 1st Stages 1 & 4 UAE Tour 1st Stages 5 & 6 AlUla Tour 1st Stages 1 & 3 Tour of Belgium 1st Stages 1 & 5 1st Stage 1 Tour of Holland 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 3rd Antwerp Port Epic 3rd Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 2026 (9) 1st Scheldeprijs 1st Ronde van Limburg Tour de France 1st Stages 7, 8 & 12 Tour de Hongrie 1st Points classification 1st Stages 1, 3 & 5 1st Stage 2 Tour of Belgium

Grand Tour general classification results timeline Grand Tour 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Giro d'Italia DNF — — 138 — — Tour de France DNF — — — 148 DNF Vuelta a España — 132 — — —

Classics results timeline Monument 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Milan–San RemoHas not contested during his career Tour of Flanders — — — — 43 65 — — Paris–Roubaix —NH 48 40 23 DNF 36 Liège–Bastogne–LiègeHas not contested during his career Giro di Lombardia Classic 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne — 25 38 12 — — 15 — Brugge–De Panne —3 —1 —2 DNF — Gent–Wevelgem — 27 346 1482 — Dwars door Vlaanderen —NH3 — DNF — 53 — Scheldeprijs —4 689 —111 Brussels Cycling Classic 3317 23 61 —1

Major championships timeline Event 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 World Championships Road race — — — — — — — — — — European Championships Road raceDNE — — — DNF — —3 —1 National Championships Road race DNF DNF6 761 1961 176

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish