Tour de France: Merlier Scores His Third Win, but What a Scare at the Finish—A Bad Crash Triggered by Gaviria

Tim Merlier claimed his third stage victory at the 2026 Tour de France, winning the 12th stage that took the riders from the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours to Chalon-sur-Saône, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. The Belgian rider from Soudal Quick-Step finished ahead of Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Premier-Tech) in a sprint marked by a nasty crash 350 meters from the finish line involving Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and about ten other riders.

As stipulated by the rules for mass-sprint stages, the times were nullified 5 kilometers from the finish line; therefore, the final crash will have no effect on the general classification, where Tadej Pogacar remains in the yellow jersey, as he has for the past few days. The UAE Team Emirates XRG champion maintains a 3’36” lead over Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) and a 4’06” lead over Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Little glory for the Italian riders: Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) was particularly unlucky, forced by a flat tire to abandon an attack he had launched with thirteen other riders about thirty kilometers from the finish line. In the end, the top Italian at the finish was Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), in 39th place, while in the general classification, the first Italian rider was Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), in 12th place, 13’38” behind Pogacar.

On Friday, the Grande Boucle will offer fans a preview of the mountains to be climbed on Saturday and Sunday: Stage 13, from Dole to Belfort (205.8 kilometers), includes the climb up the Ballon d’Alsace (8.9 kilometers at an average gradient of 6.9%), with the summit located about 25 kilometers from the finish line. Action is expected from riders outside the general classification, but surprises cannot be ruled out.