Merlier puts his foot down: Third Tour victory amid the sprint chaos at Chalon

3: Hat-trick

Tim Merlier has won his third stage at the 2026 Tour de France. The Belgian came out on top in a chaotic bunch sprint in Chalon-sur-Saône on Thursday, a race characterised by fierce battles for position. The Soudal-Quick-Step rider had previously won the stages to Bordeaux and Bergerac.

This makes Merlier the second rider in this Tour to have secured three stage wins. Before him, only the overall leader, Tadej Pogacar, had achieved this, triumphing at Les Angles, Gavarnie-Gèdre and Le Lioran. For Merlier, it was also the sixth stage win of his career in the Tour de France. This puts him on a par with his compatriot Julian Alaphilippe.

73.1: The Merlier Rocket

The sprinters had no time to waste gazing at the Saône during the final in Chalon-sur-Saône. An incredibly fast pace was set over the final few kilometres, which Tim Merlier was able to capitalise on to the full.

The Belgian covered the final kilometre of the stage in less than 50 seconds, achieving an average speed of 73.1 km/h. This is the fastest final kilometre of the 2026 Tour de France so far.

The key factor here was the flawless performance of the sprint trains, particularly that of Alpecin-Deceuninck, which pushed the pace up early on. As there are only a few classic sprint opportunities left in the remaining stages and no more fast downhill finishes on the programme, this record is likely to stand until Paris.

28: Belgians love hat-tricks

With his first hat-trick at the Tour de France, Tim Merlier has joined a long line of Belgian champions. He is already the 28th Belgian to have secured at least three stage wins at the Grande Boucle.

The first Belgian rider to achieve this was Odile Defraye in 1912. Most recently, Jasper Philipsen managed such a hat-trick. He won at least three Tour stages in both 2023 and 2024.

Eddy Merckx remains the record holder. The ‘Cannibal’ managed to secure at least three stage wins in a single Tour on no fewer than five occasions. He also shares the record with Freddy Maertens for the most stage wins by a Belgian in a single Tour. Both won eight stages in a single year.

75: A winner through and through

Tim Merlier’s winning streak continues. With his victory in Chalon-sur-Saône, the Belgian has now celebrated the 75th professional win of his career.

The 33-year-old has achieved the vast majority of these victories in bunch sprints. This has seen him overtake his compatriot Remco Evenepoel in the list of active riders; Evenepoel currently has 74 professional victories to his name.

At the same time, Merlier is closing the gap on Dylan Groenewegen. The Dutchman currently has 81 wins to his name and is now just six victories ahead of the Belgian.

25: Philipsen continues to rack up podium finishes

Jasper Philipsen was back on the podium in Chalon-sur-Saône. By finishing third, the Belgian has now made it into the top three of a Tour stage for the 25th time in his career.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter has won ten Tour stages to date, most recently in Lille in 2025. He has also finished second on nine occasions and now has six third-place finishes to his name.

With a total of 25 podium finishes, Philipsen is now on a par with cycling legends such as Louis Trousselier, Louison Bobet, Gino Bartali and André Greipel.

82: Pogacar draws level with Froome

Tadej Pogacar is not only racking up victories in this Tour, but also breaking records. As the leader of the general classification, the Slovenian once again wore the yellow jersey on Thursday, thereby reaching yet another remarkable milestone.

Pogacar has now won a total of 82 leader’s jerseys in Grand Tours, drawing level with Chris Froome. This tally includes all days spent as the overall leader in the three major Grand Tours.

The 82 jerseys comprise 62 days in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France and 20 days in the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia. In the all-time rankings, Pogacar is therefore already among the five most successful riders of all time. The next notable rival is Miguel Indurain, who has a total of 93 leader’s jerseys to his name.

3: The Wild Boar of the Runaways

Baptiste Veistroffer continues to live up to his reputation as a tireless fighter. The Frenchman spent around 120 kilometres at the front of the race during the twelfth stage, initially on his own, later with other breakaway riders, and finally solo once more.

For this performance, the Lotto-Intermarché rider was honoured with the award for the most combative rider of the day. It was already his third such honour in this Tour.

With 421 kilometres of breakaway riding to his name, Veistroffer is one of the most active riders in the tour. He is thus following in the footsteps of Marc Hirschi, who was named the most combative rider three times in 2020, and Ben Healy, who also achieved this in 2025. Both were also honoured at the end of their respective tours as the ‘Super Combatif’ for the entire race.