Tim Merlier wins in Bordeaux and gives Belgium its first victory in the 2026 Tour de France

Tim Merlier won the seventh stage of the Tour de France 2026 and gave Belgium its first victory in this edition. The Soudal Quick-Step rider was clearly the fastest in Bordeaux, where he surpassed Søren Wærenskjold and Biniam Girmay after a very tense final approach, but without the crashes that had affected the previous outcome for sprinters.

Tim Merlier wins stage 7 of the Tour after surpassing Wærenskjold and Girmay

Jasper Philipsen was perfectly positioned by Mathieu van der Poel and started the sprint from a privileged position, but lost speed in the final meters and finished fifth. Merlier, who had found the wheel of Olav Kooij during the preparation, launched his acceleration at the right moment and opened a clear gap over the rest.

Tadej Pogacar entered the peloton without problems and retains the yellow jersey with 2:42 over Jonas Vingegaard.

Veistroffer attacked again from the first kilometer

The 175.1-kilometer stage between Hagetmau and Bordeaux featured only about 850 meters of total ascent and was practically destined to be resolved in a sprint. Still, Baptiste Veistroffer challenged the script from the start.

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The Frenchman from Lotto Intermarché attacked at kilometer zero and this time found the company of Jakub Otruba from Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. Both completed 157 kilometers in the lead at an average speed of over 46 km/h, although the sprinter teams never allowed them to build a sufficient lead to think about victory.

Veistroffer won the intermediate sprint against Otruba and also passed first over the Côte de Béguey, the only categorized climb of the day. The Frenchman also received the combativity prize, despite the two escapees being caught 18 kilometers from the finish.

Pedersen continues to extend his lead in the fight for green

The breakaway took the top two spots in the intermediate sprint, but Mads Pedersen was again the best of the peloton. The Dane launched early and won ahead of Max Kanter, Biniam Girmay, Jasper Philipsen, and Merlier.

Pedersen thus reinforced his lead in the points classification before facing the finish in Bordeaux. At the finish, he ended up ninth, far from victory, but he added points to comfortably maintain the green jersey.

A fast finish by the Garonne

The approach to Bordeaux forced teams to fight for positioning before crossing the bridge over the Garonne located four kilometers from the finish. After that point, the route simplified with a long avenue and barely a gentle curve within the last two kilometers.

Cofidis gathered a large train for Milan Fretin, Netcompany INEOS entered ahead in the technical section, and Alpecin-Premier Tech took control in the decisive part. Van der Poel brought Philipsen to the ideal position and left him at the front of the sprint.

Soudal Quick-Step had lost Bert Van Lerberghe during the mountain stage the previous day, so Jasper Stuyven took on the role of Merlier's last lead-out man. The Belgian champion arrived well positioned, took advantage of the references from other trains, and launched from behind when Philipsen began his effort.

Merlier clearly surpassed the Alpecin sprinter and held off Wærenskjold and Girmay. Max Kanter finished fourth and Philipsen dropped to fifth place.

Top 10 of stage 7 Tour France 2026

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:44:20
2. Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) +0
3. Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) +0
4. Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team) +0
5. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) +0
6. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) +0
7. Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché) +0
8. Dorian Godon (Netcompany INEOS) +0
9. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +0
10. Tom Van Asbroeck (NSN Cycling Team) +0

General classification after stage 7

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 24:56:17
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +2:42
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +3:30
5. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) +3:55
6. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +4:00
7. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) +7:10
8. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +9:50
9. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +12:21
10. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) +13:06