RACE REPORT: The Tour de France sprinters finally had another chance to settle the score on Friday – and it was Tim Merlier who came out on top.
After surviving Thursday’s brutal mountain stage over the Col du Tourmalet, the peloton enjoyed a much flatter 175-kilometre run from Hagetmau to Bordeaux. The finish produced exactly what everyone expected: a high-speed drag race between the world’s fastest men. Merlier timed his effort to perfection, blasting past the competition to take a convincing victory ahead of Søren Wærenskjold and Biniam Girmay.
Jasper Philipsen enjoyed arguably the best lead-out of the day courtesy of Mathieu van der Poel, but simply didn’t have the legs to finish it off, while Olav Kooij never found daylight after becoming boxed in during the final few hundred metres.
Tourmalet Casualty Forces Early Exit
The stage began without one of the Tour’s biggest stories from the opening week. Norway’s Torstein Træen, who had worn the Yellow Jersey for two memorable days, was forced to abandon after crashing on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet. Medical examinations revealed four broken ribs and a concussion, ending his Tour in heartbreaking fashion.
His departure left Tadej Pogačar firmly in control of the race after reclaiming the Maillot Jaune with Thursday’s dominant mountain victory.
Breakaway Never Gets Much Room
The escape formed almost immediately, with Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) once again on the attack. Unlike the previous flat stage, this time he wasn’t alone. Jakob Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) joined him from kilometre zero as the pair attempted to steal a march on the sprinters’ teams.
They were never allowed much freedom.
Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Premier Tech immediately took control at the front of the peloton, keeping the gap below two minutes throughout the afternoon. Uno-X Mobility briefly tried to ignite the race with an attack for Jonas Abrahamsen, but the move was quickly neutralized.
Pedersen Strengthens Green Jersey Grip
Attention shifted to the intermediate sprint with 54 kilometres remaining.
Veistroffer collected maximum points from the breakaway, but behind him Green Jersey holder Mads Pedersen once again proved strongest in the bunch sprint, beating Girmay and Max Kanter to further extend his advantage in the points classification.
Veistroffer also claimed the day’s lone King of the Mountains point before the breakaway’s inevitable capture.
Sprint Teams Wind It Up
With Bordeaux drawing closer, the pace steadily increased.
Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Premier Tech turned the screws with around 40 kilometres remaining as they prepared their sprint trains for Merlier and Philipsen. Girmay’s Intermarché squad also moved forward, while Kooij’s Decathlon-CMA CGM team stayed surprisingly quiet until much later.
Uno-X made two more late attempts to spring Abrahamsen clear, but both moves were quickly shut down before the breakaway was finally swallowed with 18 kilometres to race.
A Familiar Bordeaux Finale
The final kilometres featured the traditional Bordeaux run-in.
After crossing the Garonne River via a technical bridge section just inside five kilometres to go, the riders faced a long, fast finishing straight with only a gentle bend to the right before the line.
Everyone arrived safely into the decisive kilometres, where positioning became everything.
INEOS Grenadiers and Cofidis briefly took control before Alpecin-Premier Tech launched its perfectly-drilled sprint train. Van der Poel delivered another trademark lead-out, dropping Philipsen into the perfect position with roughly 250 metres remaining.
Merlier Finds Another Gear
Philipsen opened first, but his acceleration never quite had the snap needed to finish the job.
Fernando Gaviria challenged down one side of the road, but on the opposite barriers Merlier exploded through with devastating speed, sweeping past everyone to claim an emphatic stage victory.
Behind the Belgian, Wærenskjold surged into second ahead of Girmay, while Max Kanter and Philipsen rounded out the top five.
Kooij, meanwhile, found himself trapped behind fading riders inside the final 400 metres and never managed to launch his sprint, rolling home well outside the top twenty.
For the general classification contenders it was a stress-free finish, leaving Tadej Pogačar safely in the Yellow Jersey as the Tour heads toward another crucial weekend.
Results 2026 Tour de France Stage 7
Overall Results 2026 Tour de France After Stage 7
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