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Tim Merlier Thread

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Ricco'

Ricco'

Aug 14, 2012
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stonerider said:
He apparently has signed with another team next season. It's to be expected that his current team will want to send racers to the TdF that will stick around for next season.
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That and the lack of sprint opportunies in the Tour. I count only 5 stages where Merlier would had a chance to be a part in the sprints (and two of those are after all the mountain has been done - and Merlier hasn't shown so far to have the engine to last the 3 weeks).

I don't think it would be possible to have at the same time Philipsen, Merlier and VdP with personal hopes with the stages that are in the Tour.

Given the names that are at altitude in La Plagne, I would expect the team to be something like:

Philipsen
Meurisse
Gogl
Dillier
van der Poel

Plus three from:
Van Keirsbulck
Rickaert
Stannard
Sbaragli
Vermeersch
 
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Wvv

Wvv

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There aren't 2 guys faster than him in a road sprint.

In a way it's sad that he got discovered this late, and also doesn't get a lot of GT chances. But I think there are still some years to come in his career, and I believe he will still add some important victories to his tally. A classic like Gent-Wevelgem should be possible too on a very good day.
 
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saunaking

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Wvv said:
There aren't 2 guys faster than him in a road sprint.

In a way it's sad that he got discovered this late, and also doesn't get a lot of GT chances. But I think there are still some years to come in his career, and I believe he will still add some important victories to his tally. A classic like Gent-Wevelgem should be possible too on a very good day.
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With Remco targeting top 5 and tour stages, why the hell can't they bring Merlier and support him too???
 
DNP-Old

DNP-Old

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saunaking said:
With Remco targeting top 5 and tour stages, why the hell can't they bring Merlier and support him too???
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To be fair, Merlier is very unreliable in races that exceed a week, let alone a Tour de France. His endurance is very, very suspect.

But yes, if he continues like this, I too think he should go. The chances are extremely slim SQS will have to carry the race, and Merlier can take away a lot of pressure early on by winning a few stages. The only thing is, you can't leave him on his own. Bringing Merlier is bringing Van Lerberghe.
 
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Unchained

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jmdirt said:
...and another win for TM!
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This guy is a cheater and should not be able to have a 60 tooth front chainring..and they should limit his rear cassette to have a 21 as smallest cog instead of the 10t he using and just to make things fair he should not be able to have 120 cadence or above.. These are not my opinions, got them from Mark Cavendish and Alexander Christophe' s Twitter accounts.. Cavendish is hiding under his bed. Merlier is an absolute monster..
 
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Unchained

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This guy is really really pissing me off.. Today he did away with one of my go to excuses!! He finished second w a flat tire!! I always say that's why I am so slow, I have a slow leak..he is pushing my creativity.. I will probably go back to my brakes are rubbing or something is wrong with the bearings inside my hubs..
A guy loses by the width of a playing card with a flat.. Astounded another day at how fast he is. M
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

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DNP-Old said:
To be fair, Merlier is very unreliable in races that exceed a week, let alone a Tour de France. His endurance is very, very suspect.

But yes, if he continues like this, I too think he should go. The chances are extremely slim SQS will have to carry the race, and Merlier can take away a lot of pressure early on by winning a few stages. The only thing is, you can't leave him on his own. Bringing Merlier is bringing Van Lerberghe.
Click to expand...
Merlier winning a sprint stage or two takes nothing off of Evenepoels shoulders. Evenepoel is the big project of that team. You don't wanna waste resources on a pure sprinter that you're not gonna give a leadout who also has a tendency to leave the GT after a week.

Besides, Evenepoel is very likely to win a stage or two even if he doesn't podium GC.
 
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Unchained

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Red Rick said:
Merlier winning a sprint stage or two takes nothing off of Evenepoels shoulders. Evenepoel is the big project of that team. You don't wanna waste resources on a pure sprinter that you're not gonna give a leadout who also has a tendency to leave the GT after a week.

Besides, Evenepoel is very likely to win a stage or two even if he doesn't podium GC.
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I have not looked closely at TDF route but you are right that if he were to pop and God forbid miss a time cut big waste of time. I get all excited and spill my coffee because I like sprinting, but if he goes, 30+ back a day that's not fun..I was crying and complaining when Del Toro lost 6+ minutes.. Can't imagine if the guy I am routing for is 40 min off the lead!! I am going to enjoy Tim while it lasts..
 
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