Philipsen fails to capitalize on Van der Poel’s masterful lead-out: Merlier cruises to victory

The seventh stage of the Tour de France was won by Tim Merlier. The Belgian rider from Soudal Quick-Step capitalized on a fantastic lead-out for his rival Jasper Philipsen and won the sprint with a powerful display of strength. Søren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) finished second, ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN). Olav Kooij didn’t factor into the finish this time.

Bordeaux and the Tour de France are inseparable. Only Paris has appeared more frequently in the history of the race, and Bordeaux is a Tour stage town for the 83rd time in 2026. When the peloton arrives in the wine city, the day often ends in a bunch sprint. Previous winners in Bordeaux include Mark Cavendish, Jasper Philipsen and Jean-Paul van Poppel. Servais Knaven’s breakaway victory in 2003 was a notable exception.

Another sprint appears highly likely this time. Apart from the time trials, Stage 7 features the least climbing of the entire route, with only around 700 metres of elevation gain. After surviving the Pyrenees, the fast men can therefore be almost certain that they will get their opportunity. Can Philipsen repeat his 2023 victory in Bordeaux, or will a new winner emerge?

The route did not exactly encourage the formation of a large or particularly dangerous breakaway. When two riders eventually escaped, it was therefore no surprise that the rest of the peloton remained where they were. Baptiste Veistroffer was inevitably one of the attackers. The Frenchman had already won the combativity award on Stage 5 and went on the offensive again, this time accompanied by Czech rider Jakub Otruba of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.

What followed was a calm — and, it must be said, fairly uneventful — stage. The peloton quickly took control and rarely allowed the two leaders to build an advantage of much more than a minute. Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal Quick-Step were largely responsible for keeping the gap under control.

With little urgency in the bunch, the riders had plenty of time to chat. Mathieu van der Poel was serenaded by the motorcycle riders alongside the race, while Remco Evenepoel joked around with his fellow Belgians. On a stage unfolding at such a gentle pace, the riders had to find something to keep themselves entertained.

The race continued to drift along until Uno-X Mobility suddenly disturbed the peace after around 70 kilometres. The Norwegian team attempted to send three riders up the road, but the sprint teams immediately reacted and shut the move down. Their acceleration briefly inspired several other opportunistic attacks, with green jersey wearer Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek even trying his luck.

The activity did not last long, however, and calm soon returned to the peloton. Only temporarily, because the intermediate sprint provided a welcome change of pace in what had otherwise been a largely uneventful stage.

Veistroffer beat Otruba to collect the maximum points at the front. Behind them, the points-classification contenders fought hard for what remained. XDS Astana once again delivered an excellent lead-out, but Pedersen surprised his rivals and crossed the line first from the peloton, adding another 16 points to his green jersey total.

After that, more and more sprinter teams began to make their move. The breakaway riders saw their lead dwindle, but the fun wasn’t over yet. Once again, it was Uno-X Mobility launching an attack, but Anders Skaarseth and Jonas Abrahamsen couldn’t stay out of the peloton’s clutches. Not long after, Veistroffer and Otruba were also caught: on to the sprint!

Or so it seemed? Well, Abrahamsen and company tried again. The Norwegians didn’t want a sprint, but this early in the Tour, it’s hard to catch the sprinter teams off guard. Everything came back together, and the sprint trains were set in motion. With seven kilometers to go, the road narrowed, and you had to be at the front. Netcompany INEOS was in an excellent position there, but Alpecin-Premier Tech, Lidl-Trek, Decathlon CMA CGM, and NSN were also right on top of things.

Later, the peloton spread out again, allowing the battle for positions to resume. Cofidis and Netcompany INEOS put in the early work, but Alpecin-Premier Tech seemed to time their move perfectly. With five riders, they moved to the front, and Van der Poel, as expected, did the final work. Philipsen attacked from the front, but lacked the speed entirely: Merlier overtook him with long strides and won by a landslide.