Tim Merlier wins the seventh stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish

Belgian rider Tim Merlier won the seventh stage of the 113th Tour de France by finishing in a sprint finish. He represented the Soudal Quick-Step team.

Race details in Bordeaux

Merlier's victory was achieved after covering a distance of 175 km from Hazemo to Bordeaux on Friday. Norwegian Soren Waerenskyold finished second, and Eritrean Biniam Girma finished third. Current champion Tadej Pogačar retained the yellow leader's jersey.

Despite a relatively calm day in southwestern France, where the temperature in Bordeaux reached 38 degrees Celsius, Merlier perfectly timed his burst, overtaking compatriot Jasper Philipsen and Girma to secure a clean victory.

Comments and results

When asked if it was an ideal sprint, Merlier replied that he did not know, as he was unsure how early he started his sprint. He noted that it was difficult to take the necessary position, but he managed it thanks to the team, thanking them for their excellent work.

Philipsen's team, Alpecin-Premier Tech, seemed to have prepared the ten-time winner of Tour de France stages for the final sprint, but he lacked the speed on the straight to hold off Merlier. Philipsen finished fifth, yielding the spot to German Max Kanter, who took fourth place. Dutchman Mads Pedersen maintained his lead in the pursuit of the green sprinter's jersey, finishing eighth.

Other events of the stage

All general classification contenders finished in the peloton without incident. As for breakaways, this was another day when the breakaway was doomed from the start, and few showed interest in participating. Frenchman Baptiste Weistroffer left the finish line for the second time in three days. After riding solo for 144 km on Wednesday, this time he had Czech Jakub Otruba with him.

The sprinters' teams were unwilling to take risks and did not allow this pair to get away by more than one and a half minutes. They were caught when there were 18 km remaining, after they had ridden 156 km ahead. Thus, over the last three days, Weistroffer has covered 300 km in breakaways. Merlier from the Soudal-Quick Step team stated that he was glad that another team did not win, noting: 'After all the work two days ago and today, we were the only team with Alpecin that rode to bring back the breakaway.'

The Uno-X Mobility team, whose rider Torsten Traen wore the yellow jersey two days ago, was forced to leave the race after an accident on Thursday, despite repeated attempts to attack from the front of the peloton.

Significance of Bordeaux for the race

Stages ending in Bordeaux—the center of perhaps the most famous wine region in France—are known for bunch sprints. In the past, famous sprinters such as Mark Cavendish, Jean-Paul Van Poppel, and Jamolidin Abdujaparov have won here. Philipsen has already won in Bordeaux, beating Cavendish for second place in 2023, which was the last time the Tour held a stage in this city. Bordeaux is the second most visited city in France after the capital, Paris. This was the 81st stage conclusion in this city, the first of which took place in the very first edition of the Tour de France in 1903.