Belgian Merlier wins crash-marred Tour de France dash to Dunkirk

The stage was marred by a series of falls, but the two favourites for the title Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the main pack and remain in second and third place overall behind Van der Poel. The flat 179km run from Valenciennes along the Belgian border was marked above all by a nasty fall that caused Jasper Philipsen to quit with severe grazing and a suspected fracture. The fall happened during an intermediate sprint 60km away from Dunkirk and ripped the green best sprinter's...