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For the Second Time TdF25-57
Unfortunately for the early breakaway of Mathieu Van Der Poel and Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) Van Der Poel was caught by the charging peloton with roughly 900 meters left to race. It was a very long shot that may have started as a lark almost came to fruition. Instead, it was the sprinters who vied to win on the streets of Chateauroux. The town has given itself the nickname of Cavendish City, since the record holding sprinter had won all three of the sprint stages that ended here. Without Cavendish still racing, it would be someone new to claim stage honors today. That honor went to Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) who edged out Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), again! This time it was about a half of a bike length rather than a half inch like Stage 3. It was Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) getting his sprinting legs turning over taking third followed by Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL). Sadly, my pick for the stage, Biniam Girmay, could only sprint to sixth not even making into the frame.