Jasper Stuyven shouted into his race radio as he slowed beyond the finish line of stage 7 of the Tour de France in Bordeaux to praise everyone at Soudal-QuickStep for perfectly executing their sprint strategy so that Tim Merlier could accelerate late and win.
"Yes! That was a great job, boys!" Cyclingnews heard Stuyven shout into his radio before he reached Melier to celebrate their first Tour sprint victory.
Stuyven is new to Soudal this year, after 12 seasons at Lidl-Trek but he has quickly become a vital part of the team, a trusted road captain, a role model, and now also a lead-out for Merlier.
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Merlier's close friend and usual lead-out man Bert Van Lerberghe suffered in the Pyrenees on Thursday and abandoned the Tour. Stuyven stepped up to lead out Merlier in the fast Bordeaux finish.
As he tried to warm down in the humid heat of Bordeaux, Stuyven talked Cyclingnews through every detail of the sprint, giving a rare analysis from inside the peloton.
"For me, it was about adapting. Previously, I did sprint lead-outs with multiple people, the way Alpecin did it today," Stuyven said of his previous leadout role at Lidl-Trek for Jonathan Milan.
"Today was different. It was just a matter of thinking smart, and seeing who's there, and who has the control, or wants to take the control. We played it well. I was in control and I could anticipate the movements of the bunch."
Stuyven was careful to praise each Soudal rider for their work during the stage.
"Everyone was super focused today and really motivated. I could be good for the final because everyone did such a great job, we were never in trouble," Stuyven said.
"Valentin Paret-Peintre and Ilan Van Wilder kept going to the car for bottles as the heat increased today. At the start, it was a bit nicer, but not for long. Then Pascal Eenkhoorn pulled, then he got dropped, got back on with bidons, pulled again and kept fighting to come back.
"Every extra pull he did was saving energy for Dylan van Baarle who did the perfect run into the seven-kilometre mark [at a narrowing in the road], which was super important for everyone. Then Louis Vervaeke brought us to the key 4.8 km to go point. I think everyone can be super proud of what they did today."
The stage headed to Bordeaux from the south and switched along the banks of the Garonne river in the final kilometres. Before then Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) and Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural -Seguros RGA) acted as the hare to chase, with Soudal and Alpecin doing much of the work.
"Along with Alpecin, we were the only team riding to bring the break back, so I’m happy it’s not another team who won," Merleir said with pride.
In the final kilometres along the Garonne, Stuyven knew it was his time to step up and protect Merlier. Stuyven had a different role when the Tour last finished in Bordeaux but that experience proved vital.
"I remembered the slide bends in the final kilometres, where the leading riders go from the left to the right," that means you can create that space to move up if necessary. That was perfect for us," he said of the section under bridges and on curving roads in the final four kilometres.
Ineos bumped against Cofidis and then Alpecin-Premier Tech massed near the front, trying to control the sprint with a train of riders. Stuyven and Merlier preferred a freestyle sprint strategy.
In the final five hundred metres, Philipsen clashed with Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural) after his early hit out, and after Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) kicked early. Merlier was a little behind but pulled out another winning move. He came up late, found a gap on the left and used his late power to accelerate to victory.
He was the first Belgian to win a stage in this year's Tour, the 13th Soudal rider to win a Tour sprint stage and took his fourth Tour victory in just three rides.
"He still needs to sprint of course, but if you lead him out like that, the chances of victory are high," Stuyven said of Merlier's ability to finish off the work of his teammates.
"It's not that he has no competition here but it's sweet that he finished it off."
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