Trust is everything in a sprint train, and for Tim Merlier and Bert Van Lerberghe, that trust has been decades in the making. The two 32-year-olds from Kortrijk are more than just teammates at Soudal-QuickStep – they’re lifelong friends, having shared a classroom and BMX sessions since they were 11 years old.
More than 20 years later, they’ll line up together in Lille, hoping to land the first yellow jersey of the 2025 Tour de France on a flat opener tailor-made for sprinters.
Back then, though, cycling was just a hobby. Even riding the Tour, let alone dreaming of winning a stage, was far from their minds.
“We were in the same class when we were 11, 12 years old, so more than 20 years ago already and directly we had a really good relationship,” said Van Lerberghe. “We were best friends, and we both rode bikes. But we were never thinking about becoming pro. It’s really strange – we loved riding the bike, but we never said, ‘Ah let’s go pro’. It was a hobby for us.”
“We didn’t do what everyone is doing now. We rode two times a week and raced a bit, and then shit, we became pro. It would have been a dream if we dreamed about it, but we didn’t dream about it because it was too big for us. We never thought about it.”
Merlier is back at the Tour for just the second time, having taken a stage win in 2021. He withdrew from that race later on, and since then has split sprint duties elsewhere. This time, with Van Lerberghe debuting and the pair forming a tight sprint duo, there’s fresh optimism for a bigger haul.
“We can, even after a bad sprint, pick up our thoughts directly for the next one,” Van Lerberghe said. “We can swap quite fast, also because we can say almost anything to each other without breaking each other’s balls.”
That honesty, forged across two decades of friendship, is what makes their partnership click. They aim to keep the pressure down, while still delivering results. “You can also make it nice,” said Van Lerberghe. “And we try to do that.”
Merlier isn’t only thinking about stage 1, though. “The first day is already a really important day for the sprinters as we can take the yellow jersey, but it’s only one guy who can do that. If it’s not on day one, then we focus on another stage.”
So far in 2025, Merlier has been the most successful of the big-name sprinters, with 10 victories. Many have come at the expense of Jasper Philipsen and Jonathan Milan, the two rivals most likely to challenge him in Lille. But success will depend on more than just legs – it will be about precision, timing and trust. That’s where Van Lerberghe comes in.
Having worked with Mark Cavendish and Fabio Jakobsen in past Tours, and gained invaluable advice from former teammate Michael Mørkøv, Van Lerberghe’s instincts are sharp. He knows what it takes to set up a win on cycling’s biggest stage.
Now, he’s tasked with delivering his best mate to glory in Lille. For both, wearing yellow would be the culmination of something they never dared imagine.
