Tour de France sprint defeat on stage 8 means different things for Kaden Groves and Tim Merlier

LILLE, FRANCE - JULY 05: Kaden Groves of Australia and Team Alpecin - Deceuninck competes in the breakaway during the 112th Tour de France 2025, Stage 1 a 184.9km stage from Lille to Lille / #UCIWT / on July 05, 2025 in Lille, France. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Back on stage 1 of the Tour de France, Kaden Groves was working for Alpecin-Deceuninck sprint leader Jasper Philipsen (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Defeat in a Tour de France sprint can mean different things for different riders. For Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceunnick), a third place behind Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was disappointing but also motivating in just his second over Tour sprint.

For Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), defeat left him in a very different mood. He was succinct as he was disappointed after a late puncture left him struggling and out of position before the Laval sprint where Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) earned the win.

Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.

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