Tour de France stage 7 LIVE: Two riders up the road on day expected to be contested by the sprinters
Sprinters who lost out in Pau on stage 5 will get a second chance in Bordeaux for stage 7
120KM TO GO
It continues to be a very chilled atmosphere in the peloton, at least in terms of the racing rather than the weather. The break’s lead is being kept at 1:15, and everyone is safely in the bunch with no crashes or incidents having affected anyone.
Things are less harmonious at Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe. Remco Evenepoel was unhappy at the lack of help provided by Florian Lipowitz, and didn’t hold back in letting his feelings known publicly. They’ve apparently kissed and made up, but as two riders pushing so close for a podium finish on GC, and each clearly harbouring personal ambitions, things could get messy.
Tadej Pogačar and Isaac del Toro have made for a sublime double act so far, sharing a stage win each in the first three days, and then dropping the entire group of favourites together on the Tourmalet yesterday Del Toro’s inexperience may have shown a little yesterday as he faded after initially going hard to go clear, and some fascinating behind the scenes footage revealed that Pogačar pointed out his mistake. But with the pair in such great sync and with such a strong relationship, things are looking very good for the team.
'You went too fast' – Tadej Pogačar debriefs Isaac del Toro in remarkable behind-the-scenes footage
Enjoying our live race coverage? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for an all-access pass to our unrivalled reporting of WorldTour racing, bike tech and exclusive in-depth features. Plus, access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on-the-go!
140KM TO GO
Alpecin have allowed the break a little more leeway, but not much. The gap's grown to 1:20, the highest it's been all day.
Alpecin is the team doing all the work at the front of the peloton, with a long line of riders pulling it along. They must really fancy the chances of their sprinter Jasper Philipsen to register an eleventh Tour stage win today, despite having finished down in 5th on stage 5 after being badly positioned in the finale.
150KM TO GO
The two riders up front, Otruba and Veistroffer, are barely being given anything of a leave. The peloton is keeping them pinned at just under a minute - clearly the sprinters' teams are in a very stingy mood, and determined not to risk what has been a rare chance of a bunch finish in this opening week.
It’s another hot day in France. Though the pace has been slow so far, and looks set to continue that way for most of the stage, this weather will still take its toll on the riders. A lot of the riders in the peloton have talked about struggling in the heat, and whoever copes best with it may shape the results in the bunch sprint today - both among the sprinters, and the lead-out men they need to perform for them.
There is one rider missing from the race who finished yesterday’s stage - Torstein Træen. The Norwegian fell hard wearing the yellow jersey yesterday, and despite managing to finish, but has deemed it best to pull out of the race overnight.
That might be a hard way to leave the race, but merely getting to wear the famous yellow jersey for a couple of days made this one of, if not the, highlights of his career.
Torstein Træen suffers heavy crash on Tourmalet descent, loses Tour de France yellow jersey
It seems a minute is all that the peloton are willing to allow the break. Alpecin-Deceuninck have taken on the obligation of controlling the peloton, for their sprinter Jasper Philipsen, and are setting the pace, keeping the gap at just under a minute.
Everyone is indeed happy to let Veistroffer and Otruba up the road. The whole bunch spread across the road and slowed down the moment they went away, and nobody tried to respond to join them. Consequently, the gap had already grown to over a minute just a few kilometres into the stage.
OFFICIAL START
The riders are done with the neutralised start, and have began racing as the flag is waved! Baptiste Veistroffer and Jakub Otruba attacked straight away and have a small gap. Will the peloton be happy to let them go?
Whatever your thoughts on whether or not the race for the yellow jersey is over, the sprint stages are far more open and unpredictable. Both the top favourites, Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen (pictured), were gazumped by Olav Kooij on the sprint two days ago, and they plus a whole host of others will all fancy their chance of glory today.
In the aftermath of yesterday’s stage, Tadej Pogačar now has a huge lead in the GC. After just one mountain stage, his attack on the Tourmalet was already enough to see him move 2:42 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, with no other rivals within 3:30 of his time. Pogačar had been building to that moment for a long time, and delivered a deadly a blow as he could have hoped.
After all the explosive GC drama of yesterday’s stage, things should calm down a bit today as the attention shifts back towards the sprinters. The parcours to the familiar sprinters’ destination of Bordeaux is almost entirely flat, and therefore there’s nothing that should overly concern the sprinters vying for what would be only the second opportunity to sprint for a stage win at this year’s race so far.
Tour de France 2026 stage 7 preview - Another chance for the sprinters into Bordeaux
Bonjour and welcome to stage 7 of the Tour de France!
