A day after their remarkable victory with Mathieu van der Poel in the Tour de France, Alpecin-Fenix showed no sign of easing up on Monday as Tim Merlier secured their second stage win in 24 hours.
For a rider like Merlier, who had problems in finding a team to continue his career as little as three years ago when he briefly dropped down to Continental level after two seasons with the Verandas Willems-Crelan Pro.
Either way, the 28-year-old has now secured his team’s first win in a Grand Tour in the Giro, and on Monday scored their second in the Tour de France.
Another potential duty for Merlier could be leading out Philipsen, who was clearly on good form on Monday, too.
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