3 : HAT-TRICK
Winning in Chalon-sur-Saône this Thursday after a chaotic bunchsprint, Tim Merlier claimed his third victory of this year's Tour de France. The Soudal–Quick-Step rider from Belgium had previously beaten his rivals in Bordeaux on stage 7 and again the following day in Bergerac. He is the second rider to achieve this feat in this year's race, following Tadej Pogacar, who had already won at Les Angles (stage 3), Gavarnie-Gèdre (stage 6), and Le Lioran (stage 10). This success also marks Merlier's sixth stage win in the Grande Boucle, matching the tally of Julian Alaphilippe.
73.1 : THE MERLIER ROCKET
The sprinters and their lead-out men had no time to admire the Saône. On the quays of Chalon-sur-Saône, Tim Merlier completed the fastest final kilometre of this Tour de France in under 50 seconds… at an average speed of 73.1 km/h ! In this flat finale, except for the last hundred metres, the former European champion benefited greatly from the various sprint trains, particularly the one of Alpecin–Premier Tech which set a blistering pace. With no guarantee of another bunchsprint and no downhill finish on the horizon, this record could well stand all the way to Paris.
28 : HAT-TRICKS IN THE TOUR, A BELGIAN HABIT
Having secured his first hat-trick of stage wins at the Tour, Tim Merlier becomes the 28th Belgian rider to achieve at least three stage victories in the Grande Boucle. He follows in the footsteps of Odile Defraye, the first rider from the "Flat Country" to pull off such a feat, back in 1912, and Jasper Philipsen, who finished third on Thursday and was the most recent Belgian to achieve this, doing so in 2023 and 2024. Eddy Merckx holds the record in this category, having achieved the feat five times. He also co-holds the record for the most stage wins by a Belgian in a single edition. "The Cannibal" claimed eight stages in both 1970 and 1974, a record matched by Freddy Maertens in 1976.
75 : A PROLIFIC SPRINTER
His prize list continues to grow. With this victory, Tim Merlier secured the 75th win of his professional career, almost all of them achieved in bunchsprints. The Belgian also moves ahead of his compatriot Remco Evenepoel, who is also competing in this year's Tour, who got 74 wins. Among active riders, Merlier is also closing the gap on Dylan Groenewegen (81 wins), moving to within six victories of him.
25 : PHILIPSEN KEEPS RACKING UP PODIUMS
Back on the podium in Chalon-sur-Saône (3rd), just as the day before in Nevers, Jasper Philipsen reached the podium of a Tour stage for the 25th time in his career. The Alpecin–Premier Tech rider, who has claimed 10 victories (most recently in Lille in 2025), has also finished second nine times and third six times. The sprinter now has as many podium finishes to his name as Louis Trousselier, Louison Bobet, Gino Bartali, and André Greipel.
82 : POGACAR EQUALS FROOME (AGAIN)
Still leading the general classification this Thursday evening, Tadej Pogacar has once again matched a record held by Chris Froome during this Tour de France. Three stages after tying him for the number of Yellow Jerseys worn, the Slovenian now holds as many Grand Tour leader's jerseys as the British, 82 in total. This tally places the two-time world champion in the top five of this ranking, combining his 62 Yellow Jerseys with the 20 pink jerseys he has worn at the Giro d'Italia. However, Pogacar will have to wait for another three-week race to hope to match another rider, as Miguel Indurain boasts a total of 93 in his collection.
3 : THE « WILD BOAR » OF COMBATIVITY
Baptiste Veistroffer loves riding into the wind. Leading the race for 120 kilometres this Thursday, first solo then joined by three other riders before finding himself alone again, the Frenchman unsurprisingly won the combativity award, his third since the start of the Tour. The Lotto–Intermarché rider – who has racked up 421 km in breakaways during this Grande Boucle –, thus imitates Marc Hirschi, who was also honored three times in 2020 (stages 9, 12 and 18), and Ben Healy, who did the same last year (stages 6, 10 and 16). Both the Swiss and Irish riders went on to be named "Super Combatif," taking the podium in Paris.
