Heraldo de Madrid - Merlier edges UAE Tour sprint as Pogacar retains lead

Merlier survived a badly-timed toilet break when Pogacar went on a surprise breakaway. But after being outpaced by Italian rider Jonathan Milan on the two previous sprint finishes, he took emphatic revenge, refusing to be distracted by a late crash that split the peloton.

The Belgian edged another Italian, Matteo Malucelli, on the line. Milan, of Lidl Trek, missed not only a hat-trick of wins but also lost second place to his compatriot.

"We discussed yesterday with the team what we did wrong, and today we did a really good job," Merlier, who rides for Soudal Quick Step, said at the finish.

"They brought me in a really good position towards the last one kilometre and a half, and in the last corner I came onto the wheel of Milan.

"I was waiting, waiting, waiting for my moment. I'm really happy."

The day was shaped by a breakaway containing Pogacar, of Team UAE, who spent more than 100km of the flat 160km stage ahead, increasing the pace of the stage for everyone.

Pogacar picked up three seconds in bonuses on the intermediate sprints to increase his lead to 21sec over second-place Josh Tarling.

"It was not the plan to extend my lead through time bonuses today but the move happened in a funny moment," Pogacar told the press conference.

"Other guys followed as well and it turned out to be a breakaway."

"It was a good day out," said Pogacar after his workout.

The breakaway was at one stage more than two minutes ahead, forcing the teams of the leading sprinters to chase.

"Some riders were really motivated to have a training day today, so it was a hard pace all day," complained Merlier at the finish.

He added that the attack had come at a bad moment.

"I was coming back from a pee stop when Tadej Pogacar attacked and we started pulling, then we asked help from other teams. The guys did a very good job to bring it back."

K.Bravo--HdM