Tim Merlier sprints to third Tour de France stage win as mass crash mars finale in Chalon-sur-Saône

Sprint victory and mass crash

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won the 12th stage of the 2026 Tour de France in a bunch sprint at Chalon-sur-Saône on Thursday, but the finish was overshadowed by a heavy crash inside the final 500 metres. The Belgian came from behind to edge out Dutchman Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) and compatriot Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), who had been launched by Mathieu van der Poel. The collision, triggered when Colombian Fernando Gaviria went down, split the peloton and brought down dozens of riders. Gaviria crossed the line heavily marked, and Frenchman Dorian Godon was also caught up in the incident. It was the last expected mass sprint before the race heads into the high mountains.

Merlier's hat-trick

The victory was Merlier's third of this Tour, following wins on stage 7 into Bordeaux and stage 8 to Bergerac. The 33-year-old now has 75 career victories, nine of them this season. He again proved the fastest finisher, denying Philipsen a win despite a textbook lead-out from van der Poel. Kooij, who won in Pau and finished second the previous day in Nevers, collected his fourth podium of the race. Merlier's Soudal Quick-Step team controlled the finale after a series of late attacks were neutralised.

Overall standings unchanged

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) spent a quiet day in the peloton and retained the yellow jersey. The Slovenian leads Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 3 minutes and 36 seconds, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) a further 30 seconds back at 4:06. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) kept the green points jersey. No changes occurred in any of the other classification jerseys.

Breakaway drama

The 179.1-kilometre stage from the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit saw a long solo escape by Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché). The Frenchman was joined briefly by Mattéo Vercher, Damiano Caruso and Ewen Costiou at kilometre 57, but rode alone again after Costiou dropped back with 49 km remaining. Veistroffer was finally reeled in by the peloton 33 km from the finish. In the final 25 km, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) launched repeated attacks, particularly on the Côte de Montagny-lès-Buxy, where he high-fived his father at the roadside. Kévin Vauquelin, Kasper Asgreen, Mattias Skjelmose and Pedersen also tried to disrupt the sprinters' plans, but the teams of Merlier, Kooij and Philipsen kept everything together for the bunch gallop.

What's next

Friday's 13th stage is the longest of this year's Tour at 205 kilometres from Dole to Belfort. The route includes the category-3 Col des Croix (5.1 km at 4.7%) and the first-category Ballon d'Alsace (9.1 km at 6.9%), whose summit comes 20 km from the finish. The terrain is expected to favour breakaway riders, with the pure sprinters likely to struggle on the climb.