Almost three months into the road season, Tim Merlier has finally received the green light to consistently wear his race number on his back. The thirty-three-year-old Belgian sprinter, who returned to racing at the GP Monseré last March 22nd after being forced to postpone his seasonal debut multiple times due to persistent knee issues sustained during the winter, will kick off his first important block of training and races in 2026 with his confirmed participation in the Scheldeprijs on Wednesday, aiming to achieve his first significant result of the year as soon as possible.

"Tim is doing well. The first test went better than expected, he rested and then had an excellent training period" Soudal Quick-Step CEO Jurgen Foré told Wielerflits regarding the condition of the Wortegem-Petegem native.

"On Wednesday he will race the Scheldeprijs and with that he will begin a block of races that will see him competing with greater frequency" continued the Belgian team's number one, confirming in this way that the knee troubles are definitively now behind him and, consequently, that Merlier can think from now on only about racing.

In this regard, his schedule before the Tour de France currently includes Tour of Hungary, Baloise Belgium Tour and National Road Championships, but it is certainly not ruled out that other commitments may be added to these in the coming weeks, given the few races he has competed in so far.

What is certain is that today, despite being forced to change his calendar multiple times based on the evolution of his physical problem, Merlier will not take part in the Giro d'Italia alongside or instead of the sprinter designated for the first major stage race of the year, namely Paul Magnier.

"According to our plans, Magnier is the lead sprinter for the Giro d'Italia and for now we are sticking to the initial plan that sees Paul as the leader for the Giro's sprints and Tim with the same role at the Tour" clarified a confident Foré, who, with Merlier's return, clearly hopes that his team's win tally can soon be improved.