Merlier stumbled upon the beams, and came a heavy fall. "Tim hurt his legs, not his ribs," reports his team Crelan-Charles. "It's going to be a slight injury, bleeding, bruising or small muscle trauma (in the worst case) of the linkerquadriceps. Tim complains about mild pain and must do in the next days and easy to do. It is not yet sure when he resumed, but Baal on 1 January is still too early."
In a first reaction Merlier, from 1 January a other team races, the following recording. "It is not nice to you years to finish. I did well in the match and immediately after my crash, I wanted to fast again on the bike jump, but I felt my legs no more, so that was impossible. I had myself really to the side of the trail dragging.”