Merlier wins Tour de France stage nine
This was a second win for Soudal Quick-Step sprinter Merlier who was first across the line on stage three at Dunkirk as he racked up a 12th stage win this year.
On a sun drenched slog from the Chinon vineyards, Van der Poel and a teammate broke early and built up a lead of 5min 30sec on the flat roads to Chateauroux. Jonas Rickaert won the combativity award for accompanying Van der Poel to within 10km of the line before slumping over his handlebars.
With his gung-ho all-in style Van der Poel grew his Tour de France legend here despite being caught with 700m to go, the plaudits will be both his and Merlier's.
As Van der Poel was reeled in, it looked as though Jonathan Milan would win a second consecutive stage but Merlier got ahead with 50m remaining as Milan finished second with Arnaud De Lie completing the podium.
Pogacar's Tour de France defence took a hit Sunday as his key teammate Joao Almeida threw in the towel two days after his nasty fall at the Mur de Bretagne, where he fractured a rib.
Monday's stage 10 should shake up the race with eight classified climbs in the Massif Central on the July 14 French national holiday.
Road signs in honour of British cycling great Mark Cavendish had been placed at entry points to Chateauroux — reading Cavendish City — in homage to the now-retired 40-year-old, after he won three stages there in 2008, 2011 and 2021.
"But can't ask him to kill himself for a bike race," Pogacar said.
Before the fall Almeida himself was also in contention for a spot on the podium, and would have been of value in the mountainous second half of the Tour.
'Cavendish City'
Road signs in honour of British cycling great Mark Cavendish have been placed at entry points to Chateauroux city centre, where stage nine of the Tour de France ends Sunday.
Cavendish won three Tour de France stages here, in 2008, 2011 and 2021.
"We placed road signs at 17 roundabouts at the entry points of the city as a nod and wink to him," Town Hall communications director Anne-Laure Bodin told AFP.
"We put up the signs at the start of July and they'll stay there until the end of the Tour de France," she said, explaining it was to mark the fast-man's legacy and connection with the town.
"He was happy by the looks of it because he made an Instagram post of it. It's fun but he deserves it."
Cavendish was a specialist on the flat stages and the finish line on Sunday's eighth stage is the same 3km home straight that suited the 'Manx Missile' so well.
"Now I'm truly humbled," Cavendish wrote on Instagram. "It's emotional to me as my first ever win.
"I hope it's a place as special for whoever wins there this year." The 40-year-old Briton is now retired, and won 35 stages in total at the Tour de France, a record for stage wins he shares with all-time great Eddy Merckx.
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