Triple 2026 Tour de France stage winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) has given a cautious welcome to the idea that up-and-coming French sprinter and teammate Paul Magnier might join him in the 2027 race.
This season, Magnier, 22, took part in the Giro d'Italia, winning three stages in his Grand Tour debut, whilst Merlier, 11 years his senior was sent to the Tour de France.
Next July, it might be that the two race together in a Grand Tour for the first time.
At the Tour presentation this Thursday, Merlier himself played down the number of sprint stages on offer in the 2027 route but he did not roundly reject the idea of sharing those opportunities with Merlier.
"I have already discussed that with the team," Merlier said in comments reported by Het Laatste Nieuws. "I am certainly not opposed to it. I think it would be possible.
"He is still young and I have the feeling that he still looks up to me; he sometimes still asks for tips. He could learn a lot from it."
Although the Belgian star argued that it was not necessarily a given that it would happen, concluding on that subject – and without explaining why – that “the chance that it actually happens seems quite small to me".
The other big subject on the virtual table for Merlier in Paris was whether he could take the yellow jersey in Carlisle at the end of day 1 of the 2027 Tour. Opportunities for sprinters to take the opening stage's yellow jersey are never high in the Tour and the sprint finish in Carlisle is a gradual uphill, exactly the kind that Merlier likes.
Furthermore, after missing out in Lille in 2025, the previous chance the fast men had to go for yellow in the Tour, Merlier recognised that he was looking forward to a fresh chance coming his way.
“It would be wonderful. I let it slip in Lille in 2025, so I’m happy to get a second chance already. Normally, that doesn’t happen very often," he said.
"It's a nice challenge for the sprinters, and it's not impossible it could happen."
It might sound surprising that Merlier was pleased that there were two time trials in the 2027 route, but that was more for practical reasons because he was suddenly going to switch specialities at 33. At the same time, he agreed with Mark Cavendish that if the sprinters' teams worked well enough, the last day over the Butte Montmartre in Paris could still end up being decided by a mass dash to the line on the Champs Élysées.
"Two time trials are two rest days for me," he reasoned, "and though I'd like to see a 'real' sprint without the Montmartre on the last day, if the sprinters' teams all work well together, it might still be possible that it happens."
It is true, too, that stage 21 breakaway winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) only took the last dash for the line in Paris by the bare minimum ahead of teammate Jasper Philipsen last July. But in any case, rather than the seven sprints predicted by the Tour de France organisation on Thursday for 2027, Merlier says that he thinks a much smaller number is likely.
"If we can sprint four times, that would already be great. It all looks very tough. When you see the elevation gain [53,450 metres - Ed.] across the race, you don't get very excited as a sprinter," he said with a laugh.
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