Belgian Tim Merlier took his fourth Tour de France career stage win in Bordeaux on Friday after an unmatched sprint alongside the Garonne river on stage seven.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider timed his effort to perfection, leaving it late to make his move as the peloton sprinted into a headwind.
It had looked as though Alpecin-Premier Tech were in control of the sprint, as Matthieu van der Poel - so often a potent lead-out man for Jasper Philipsen - hit the front with around 600 metres to go. 100 metres later and the Dutchman started his sprint, but this proved too early. Van der Poel swung off with 250 metres to go, leaving his sprinter Philipsen sprinting into the wind.
At this point Merlier was still sitting in fifth wheel, out of the wind behind Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) and Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural). He eventually made his move with 150 metres to go, coming out of the slipstream and surging past his rivals to a clear win ahead of Uno-X-Mobility's Søren Wærenskjold. Philipsen, winner of ten Tour stages since 2022 finished fifth.
"Perfectly? I don’t know. It was a mess to get in position but I made it thanks to the team," Merlier said post-race.
"For a long time I was following Jasper [Stuyven] but I lost him..." he continued. "Then I got a bit more space and some time to give the legs a bit of air, then in the last 600 metres it was boxing again. I thought to myself ‘are we going to fight to the finish?’ I’m happy I could take it.
"In every participation I take a win, so I can be proud." He said, referring to his 100% win rate in stage races this year.
For the majority of the bunch, stage seven was something of an easy day; well deserved after the first six stages they've endured. On another blisteringly hot day, two riders were given their freedom to form the break, a sure sign that the peloton wasn't interested in forcing a big group clear, and that the sprinter's teams were determined to stay in control on the roads through the Landes and Gironde regions.
Jakob Otruba (Caja Rural) and Baptiste Veistroffer (Intermarché Lotto) were given a maximum lead of one minute 38 seconds as Alpecin-Premier tech and Soudal-Quick Step marshalled the front of the peloton, with occasional help from Decathlon CMA CGM. The French team might be more focused on Paul Seixas's GC ambitions, but following Olav Kooij's win on stage five into Pau, they had to show willing.
Perhaps still reeling from Tadej Pogačar's trouncing of everyone over the Tourmalet the day before, the likes of Visma - Lease a bike and Red Bull - Bora - hansgrohe were well hidden in the bunch while yellow jersey holders UAE Team Emirates had little to do.
The pair worked well together but after one last dig from Veistroffer at 20km to go, sat up and shook hands. They always knew they wouldn't survive to the finish, but acknowledged their hard work.
From there the peloton took a few more kilometres to pick up the speed as things started to get nervy. Coming into Bordeaux the likes of Alpecin, Soudal and Cofidis sent their trains to the front, but it was Netcompany - Ineos that lead into the city as the roads first narrowed and the street furniture became more prevalent.
Everyone in the peloton made it safely to the three kilometres to go point and from there most of the riders could relax and leave the action to unfold in the arrowhead of around 40 riders at the front. With no team able to assert overall control it looked chaotic at times as teammates would squeeze through the gaps to drop their sprinters and leadout men near the front.
It was Alpecin who brought numbers to the front in the final two kilometres, and with the strength of van der Poel looked like they were favourites for the win. But for once the team got their timing wrong and ceded the stage to a rider who, in the midst of the cut and thrust of a bunch sprint, showed just the right amount of patience.
Stage 7, Hagetmau > Bordeaux, 175.1km
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 3:44:20
2. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
3. Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling
4. Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana
5. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech
6. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
7. Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto Intermarché
8. Dorian Godon (Fra) Netcompany Ineos
9. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
10. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) NSN Cycling, all at same time
Tour de France 2026 general classification after stage six
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 24:56:17
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:42
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:30
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +3:34
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:55
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:00
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +4:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+4:57
10. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +7:10
