Take4 days ago
Olav Kooij beat Tim Merlier in Beverley on stage 3 of the Tour of Britain 2026, a day after losing to him on the flat run into Skegness. Terrain decided both sprints — Merlier owns a pure flat dash, Kooij owns a rising finish, and the route just handed each man his stage back to back.
Kooij has already won this exact Beverley finish before, in 2023 — this wasn't a new discovery, it was a repeat. Stage 2 to Skegness was the flattest day of the race, 873m of climbing, and Merlier won it clean. Stage 3 flipped the script: 1,612m of climbing and a rising final kilometre that rewards a sprinter who's still sharp after 194km of accelerations. Axel Källberg took third, but the story is the split — not who's faster, but where.
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