Tim Merlier of Belgium won the seventh stage of the 2026 Tour de France in a bunch sprint finish in Bordeaux on July 9. The 175.1 km flat stage, running from Hagetmau to Bordeaux, favored sprinters and ended with Merlier timing his sprint perfectly to overtake Jasper Philipsen, securing the win ahead of Soren Waerenskjold and Biniam Girmay [1, 2].
Norway’s Waerenskjold finished second, with Eritrean rider Girmay in third [1, 2]. Merlier credited his team for the victory, saying, "It was a mess to be in position, but I made it thanks to the team. We were the only team with Alpecin who were riding to take the breakaway back, so I'm happy it's not another team who win" [1]. He added, "I don't know, because I launched my sprint with, I don't know how far it was. It was a mess to be in position, but I made it, thanks to the team, it was great work from them" [2].
The peloton finished without incident despite temperatures reaching a scorching 38°C in Bordeaux during the stage [2]. Mads Pedersen, leader of the sprinters' competition, finished eighth and kept the green jersey [2].
Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar retained the yellow jersey and overall lead after stage seven, with an overall time of 24 hours 56 minutes 17 seconds. He held a lead of 2 minutes 42 seconds over main rival Jonas Vingegaard and 3 minutes 27 seconds over third-place Isaac del Toro [1, 3]. Pogacar had delivered a dominant mountain stage victory the day before on the Col du Tourmalet, further expanding his lead. Geraint Thomas commented, "He had 30 seconds on Vingegaard at the top of Tourmalet, which isn’t crazy, but then he’s great on his own. The descent and the valley definitely favoured him, rather than Jonas. So I’m not surprised that the gap went up... What he and his team are doing is phenomenal" [3].
Norwegian rider Torstein Traeen withdrew from the Tour after crashing earlier in the week while wearing the yellow jersey for two days [1, 2].
Stage eight is scheduled next as the race moves away from the flat sprint terrain.
