# Tim Merlier

Tim Merlier (born 30 October 1992) is a Belgian cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step.
Considered to be one of the fastest sprinters in the world, Merlier has over 50 wins as a professional, including one stage win at the 2021 Tour de France 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 Sunweb–Revor 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 Vastgoedservice–Golden Palace, 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 Vérandas Willems–Crelan 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 Pauwels Sauzen–Vastgoedservice in 2019. This year marked his most notable win yet: the Belgian national road race championship, in addition to another stage of the Danmark Rundt as well as the one-day Elfstedenronde. In 2020, he again had three wins, including his first UCI ProSeries event: the Brussels Cycling Classic, and his first win at the UCI WorldTour level, winning stage six of Tirreno–Adriatico, both in sprint finishes.
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.
Merlier had a strong start to 2022, winning the second stage of Tirreno–Adriatico in March, followed by the Nokere Koerse and Classic Brugge–De Panne later that month. In June, he was crowned that National Champion for a second time in a photo finish with Jordi Meeus. In August he won the bronze medal in the European Road Race Championships, and competed in his first Vuelta a España. He ended the year with a win at the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen in October.

### Soudal–Quick-Step (2023–)

In August 2022, Merlier signed a three-year contract with UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step. 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 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 UEC European Championships
    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 Road race, UEC European Championships
    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 Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    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 (6)

    Paris–Nice
       1st Stages 1 & 2
    UAE Tour
       1st Stages 5 & 6
    AlUla Tour
       1st Stages 1 & 3

#### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Giro d'Italia | DNF | — | — | 138 |
| Tour de France | DNF | — | — | — |
| Vuelta a España | — | 132 | — | — |

#### Classics results timeline

| Monument | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Milan–San Remo | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | — | — | 43 | 65 |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | NH | 48 | 40 | 23 | DNF |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Giro di Lombardia | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Classic | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | — | 25 | 38 | 12 | — | — |
| Brugge–De Panne | — | 3 | — | 1 | — | 2 |
| Gent–Wevelgem | — | 27 | 34 | 6 | 14 | 8 |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | NH | 3 | — | DNF | — |
| Scheldeprijs | — | 4 | 68 | 9 | — | 1 |
| Brussels Cycling Classic | 33 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 61 | — |

#### Major championships timeline

| Event | Event | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| World Championships | Road race | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| European Championships | Road race | DNE | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | 3 | — | 1 |
| National Championships | Road race | DNF | DNF | 6 | 76 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 6 |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |