Belgian sprint star Tim Merlier trebled up at the Tour de France 2026 on Thursday as he won the 12th stage in a chaotic and crash-marred dash for the line.

The Soudal-Quick Step rider edged out Dutchman Olav Kooij and fellow Belgian Jasper Philipsen to claim his third stage win of this year's Tour, and sixth overall.

And he said this win was a bit more special because his partner Cameron and 3-year-old son, Jules, were at the finish line to watch him.

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"It gave me some motivation," said Merlier, who brought his son with him to the winner's podium. "He's still young, but maybe he's going to remember this one later on also. We can show it later."

It was yet another disorganized sprint made even worse when Colombian Fernando Gaviria hit the deck, bringing down several other riders, including the Stage 11 winner Soren Waerenskjold.

Alpecin Premier Tech once again tried to set up Philipsen for the victory, but Merlier, as he had done twice before in this 113th edition of the TDF, found a route through the traffic and powered home to take the chequered flag.

Stage 5 winner Kooij was pushed into second place for the second day in a row.

With no other obvious sprint stages left at the Tour de France 2026, everyone was desperate to give this one a crack.

Milan Fretin tried to follow Philipsen's sprint train but was passed by other fast-finishing riders and came home in fifth.

"I don't think I have any regrets today," he said. "I took a chance, and at least I still managed to finish in the top 5, so I can be happy. Today might have been my last chance on the Tour. Maybe we'll have another opportunity on Stage 17."

Tadej Pogacar Looks Ahead To Tough Weekend At Tour de France 2026

Reigning champion Tadej Pogačar finished safely in the pack at the end of the 179-kilometer stage from the Magny-Cours motor racing circuit in Nevers to Chalon-sur-Saone.

He maintained his overall lead of more than three and a half minutes to two-time TDF winner Jonas Vingegaard.

He said he was planning to keep his powder dry on Friday's 205-kilometer hilly stage from Dole to Belfort ahead of back-to-back mountain tests over the weekend.

"Tomorrow is a bit (of a) weird stage, it's very long, just one-and-a-half climbs toward the end, finish after (a) descent," the four-time Tour winner said. "It's gonna be a hard day for us as a team, but tomorrow, we need to survive as best as possible because then Saturday and Sunday are the bigger days for the GC (General Classification).

"Tomorrow, we will see what happens, but I think the best for us would be to save some energy for Saturday and Sunday."

Around 25-kilometers into the stage Thursday, Baptiste Veistroffer set off on a breakaway for the third time, and for the second time, completely solo.

Three riders counter-attacked and joined him after 57 kilometers, but by the time he reached the final 50 kilometers, all three had dropped away.

A bunch of other counter-attacks in the final 35 kilometers saw a group of 14 go clear of an increasingly ragged peloton, but that was reeled in with 24 kilometers left.

That was a cue for numerous riders to try their luck on the rapid run-in to the finish, but no group committed sufficiently to make the effort stick.

Two of the most active were American champion Quinn Simmons and his Lidl-Trek teammate Mads Pedersen, who leads the sprinters' green jersey competition.

"We tried something," said Lidl-Trek's sporting director Kim Andersen. "We don't win a sprint if we just go with the sprinter team controlling the sprint. We knew that would be difficult. I think it was nice to look at, no?"

Tour de France 2026 Stage 12 Results – Top 25

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:38:53 (B10)
2. Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:38:53 (B6)
3. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:38:53 (B4)
4. Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) – 3:38:53
5. Milan Fretin (Cofidis) – 3:38:53
6. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) – 3:38:53
7. Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team) – 3:38:53
8. Clément Russo (Groupama - FDJ United) – 3:38:53
9. Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) – 3:38:53
10. Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché) – 3:38:53
11. Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:38:53
12. Fred Wright (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 3:38:53
13. Jenthe Biermans (Cofidis) – 3:38:53
14. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:38:53
15. Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:38:53
16. Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:38:53
17. Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 3:38:53
18. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:38:53
19. Kasper Asgreen (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:38:53
20. Robert Stannard (Bahrain - Victorious) – 3:38:5 
21. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:38:53
22. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:38:53
23. Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana Team) – 3:38:53
24. Jake Stewart (NSN Cycling Team) – 3:38:53
25. Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) – 3:38:53

Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 12

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 43:04:01 (B36)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 43:07:37 (B12)
3. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 43:08:07 (B10)
4. Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 43:08:23
5. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 43:08:36 (B4)
6. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 43:08:45
7. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 43:09:09 (B14)
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 43:09:46
9. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 43:10:35
10. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 43:15:50 (B4)
11. Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) – 43:16:16
12. Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 43:16:44
13. Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 43:17:39
14. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 43:18:51 (B6)
15. Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 43:19:09
16. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 43:19:37
17. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 43:20:14
18. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 43:21:44 (B4)
19. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 43:21:57
20. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 43:22:27
21. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 43:24:33
22. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 43:24:53
23. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 43:30:02
24. Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 43:37:18
25. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) – 43:42:47

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