Merlier sprints to victory in Tour de France Stage 9 after van der Poel's breakaway is thwarted
There was no significant change in the overall standings and three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar kept the race leader's yellow jersey.
Sunday's stage headed into central France on a 174-kilometer (108-mile) flat stretch for sprinters.
But Van der Poel, a one-day classics specialist with a flamboyant style of riding, almost foiled their plans.
The Dutch rider joined his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jonas Rickaert in an early breakaway and produced a tremendous effort during a 173-kilometer breakaway at a speed of about 30 mph (50 kph) but could not go all the way and was swallowed less than a kilometer from the line.
Merlier won the sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan, the winner of Saturday's stage, with Arnaud De Lie completing the podium. It was Merlier's second stage win of this year's Tour.
'I got boxed in a bit but then I managed to go all in and I was able to do my sprint like I wanted to and I'm happy to win my second stage here,' Merlier said. 'It's the second time I manage to beat Milan but he's a really strong sprinter. It's just nice we can show a nice battle between the two of us.'
In the overall standings, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel remained 54 seconds behind Pogačar in second place. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was third at 1 minutes, 11 seconds, and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard sat 1:17 behind in fourth spot.
Ealier in the stage, João Almeida, a key teammate of Pogačar, abandoned the race. Almeida, who fractured a rib during Stage 7, was dropped early and the UAE Team Emirates-XRG later announced over the race radio that the Portuguese rider had retired.
Almeida was caught in a high-speed crash earlier this week as riders scrambled for position at the front, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the finish line. Almeida escaped without a concussion but his rib fracture finally proved to be too painful to carry on in the three-week race.
Almeida finished fourth at the 2024 Tour de France and started this year's edition on the back of strong results elsewhere, having won the Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie and Itzulia Basque Country.
Monday's stage
The mountainous stage on Bastille Day from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore features seven second-category hills or passes. The final climb has an 8% gradient.
'We expect a very hot, hard stage tomorrow,' Pogačar said. 'There will be a huge fight for the break, as it's the French national day and all French riders will want to put on a great show. It will be hard to control, but we will be up there paying attention to the other team's moves. It's not the hardest course, but it offers a lot of possibilities.'
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