As it happened: Flat stage 7 of the Tour de France finishes in a bunch sprint

Bonjour and welcome to stage 7 of the Tour de France!

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

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.

'I couldn't sleep long because I was so excited' – Despite flashbacks and an early wake-up, Tadej Pogačar takes complete control of Tour de France on first mountain stage

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.

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?

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.

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.

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’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.

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.

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.

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.

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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

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.

'They even sat together at dinner' – Red Bull downplay internal tension between Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz at Tour de France

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.

Jonas Vingegaard was not happy at how yesterday went, and to lose so much time so early on. But he’s not giving up on the yellow jersey yet, saying that he believes he can improve as the race goes on, and attempt to get that time back.

'Not the day I wanted' – Jonas Vingegaard dealt major blow by Tadej Pogačar but insists he will improve at the Tour de France

110KM TO GO

The race has woken up all of a sudden! A new attack was instigated from the peloton, after a number of Uno-X Mobility riders including Jonas Abrahamsen, plus about seven other riders, tried to attack out of it. They’ve been brought back, but as a result the lead of Veistroffer and Otruba has come down to about 50 seconds.

Soudal-QuickStep have also assisted Alpecin-Premier Tech in setting the pace at the front of the peloton. In Tim Merlier they have the other hot favourite for the stage win, and the Belgian is looking for a fifth stage win in what is just his third appearance at the Tour de France, and may also be wishing to solidify his status as his team’s top sprinter after Paul Magnier’s superb Giro

If he’s beaten in too many sprints at this year’s race, he’s in danger of being replaced by his younger (and more French) colleague next year.

100KM TO GO

After that flurry of attacks instigated by Uno-X Mobility, the pair of Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal-QuickStep have reclaimed control of the peloton, and the race has calmed down. The gap to them and the two leaders is back to where it was, at about 1:20.

The peloton have brought the break’s lead back to down about 45 seconds in the last few kilometres - seemingly by mistake. They’ve knocked off the pace again upon realising how close they were getting, and have bunched up at the front again, allowing the lead to grow again. This chase and the parcours is turning out to be almost too easy for them; yet they won't want to catch the break too early, as it’ll risk opening the race up to fresh new attacks for them to have to control.

90KM TO GO

Veistroffer and Otruba's lead has indeed been allowed to grown again. They now have 1:30 over the peloton again, which remains tranquil, enough so for a few riders in it to take comfort breaks.

Even by his own ludicrous standards, Tadej Pogačar’s obliteration of the opposition on Col du Tourmalet was a sight to behold, in the process smashing the all-time record for the quickest ever ascent of the legendary mountain.

This kind of dominance has left many fed up with the Slovenian’s dominance, and some accusing him of being greedy in his pursuit of wins. But as his teammate Adam Yates said in the aftermath of yesterday’s stage, why would he not want to win as much as possible, when he has both the talent and the circumstances to do so?

'Would you give away stages?' – Tadej Pogačar consumes all on Col du Tourmalet at the Tour de France but does he win too much?

A Bahrain Victorious DS on race radio pointing out another reason, as well as the parcours, as to why the pace is so slow and relaxed today - the riders are drained from yesterday's efforts in the Pyrenees.

The incident involving Torstein Træen in the yellow jersey yesterday, when he was delayed following a crash as doctors looked for signs of concussion, has brought to attention the role of the concussion protocol in keeping the riders safe. Have a read here of our detailed look into how it works.

What is the concussion protocol for cycling?

70KM TO GO

The gap has remained steady for a little while now, at around 1:20. That will soon come down rapidly, however, as there is an intermediate sprint coming up in 15km that all of the green jersey candidates will begin to prepare for shortly. With there being only two riders in the day's break, there are a lot of points on offer for the sprinters in the peloton, so it's sure to be a competitive one.

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Mads Pedersen leads the points classification, and his team are taking this upcoming intermediate sprint seriously. Their DS has been on the team’s race radio detailing him as to what the run-in is like.

Here’s the points classification going into the intermediate sprint - there a lot of candidates still in contention for the jersey who will want to get involved.

1 Mads Pedersen 168 points

2 Ma Kanter 93

3 Biniam Girmay 91

4 Jasper Philipsen 86

5 Tadej Pogačar 75

6 Olav Kooij 70

7 Jonas Vingegaard 61

8 Tim Merlier 55

With 2km until the sprint, the lead-out train are upping the pace. It's still Soudal and Alpecin at the front, but Astana have joined them towards the front. Meanwhile the break's lead remains at about 1:15, but will surely come down after this sprint.

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

After Veistroffer and Otruba rolled over the line first from the break, it was Mads Pedersen who won the sprint in the peloton. XDS Astana had a long lead out for Max Kanter, but Pedersen began his sprint first and went hard for it, reaching the line first ahead of Girmay, Kanter, Philipsen and Merlier.

Here are the updated points classification rankings:

1 Pedersen 184 points

2 Kanter 105

3 Girmay 105

4 Philipsen 96

5 Pogačar 75

6 Kooij 70

7 Merlier 64

50KM TO GO

The intermediate sprint did indeed have an impact on the break's lead, which has tumbled down to just 25 seconds. They still lead the race though, and the peloton will be happy to leave it a while yet to make the catch.

There is still a solitary KOM point on offer for one of Veistroffer or Otruba to take at the upcoming category four climb.

Veistroffer and Otruba are not giving up the ghost. They've grown their lead since the sprint back up to 55 seconds, and are making the peloton work hard to bring them back.

More on Remco Evenepoel versus Florian Lipowitz. Evenepoel clearly wants to put the incident behind him, telling the press before the stage today that he is done talking about it, but now he has spoken out it’ll be hard to put the genie back into the bottle, as the body language between the two will be poured over by an alert press for the rest of this Tour.

'Everything is said. The Tour is not waiting' – Remco Evenepoel clears the air with Tour de France co-leader Lipowitz after venting frustration

KOM - COTE DE BEGUEY

The breakaway pair have reached the top of the day's only climb, the Côte de Beguey, where Veistroffer outsprints Otruba for the one point on offer. They're still one minute ahead of the chasing peloton.

It's still 45 seconds for the two leaders. They've timed their efforts well all day, and still have energy to burn as they try against the odds to hold off the peloton, and the teams in it hungry for a bunch sprint.

30KM TO GO

The gap's come down a bit, to 40 seconds. The sprinters' teams still appear to have matters firmly under control.

It's still Soudal and Alpecin who are doing most of the work at the front of the peloton, for their respective sprinters Merlier and Philipsen. They are now being helped by Biniam Girmay's NSN too, though. With so few opportunities for the sprinters in this first week, the pressure is on all of them to make the most of this one.

ATTACK - UNO-X MOBILITY

A pair of Uno-X Mobility riders have tried an attack, much like they did earlier in the stage. Anders Skaarseth and former stage winner Jonas Abrahamsen are the two riders, and they have a small gap.

20KM TO GO

Despite their best efforts, those two Uno-X Mobility riders have been caught. As for the break, they're lead has been cut to a mere matter of 6 or 7 seconds. This is all going to come back together soon.

That’s it, the catch has been made. With 17km to go the race is all back together, and it looks like we’re going to have a bunch sprint!

Picnic PostNL have been talking on race radio about a tricky moment 7.2km from the finish. Things will surely get tense on the run-in to this narrowing, as both sprinter and GC team vie for position.

NSN has been doing lots of work, as pictured, but now there is no one team controlling the peloton, as it bunches up across the road. Teams don't want to burn out too early, with 11.5km still to ride.

10KM TO GO

The pace has been upped again, once more by the antics of Uno-X Moblity. First Skaarseth and then Abrahamsen (ie, the two men who attacked earlier) tried moved, but neither managed to get a gap.

The riders are having to negotiate a lot of roundabouts, and picking the right way round is crucial for optimum positioning. The dual carriageway identified by Picnic-PostNL earlier is coming up any moment now.

As the road narrows, it's Cofidis and Ineos who lead the peloton. The likes of Philipsen, Merlier, Girmay, Pedersen and Kooij are all right up towards the front, and well positioned.

5KM TO GO

NSN have a train towards the front to try and rival Netcompany Ineos and Cofidis, but it's still those two teams that lead.

The peloton is all strung out, and most of the riders in the first ten places are representatives of either Cofidis or Netcompany. This looks good for their respective sprinters Fretin and Godon.

Now here comes Alpecin, who have a long lead-out line that has taken control at the front, with Van der Poel and Philipsen ready at the back at it.

1KM TO GO

Still Alpecin lead, and there's a big fight for Philipsen's wheel. But Stuyven has also placed Merlier very well.

Van der Poel leads out, Philipsen is about to launch...

MERLIER WINS

...but it's Tim Merlier who charges through to take the stage win!

Wærenskjold takes second, and Girmay third. Despite being so well led out, Philipsen couldn't hold his lead and was overtaken by several in the final.

Philipsen might have been dropped off in the best position by his lead-out man Van der Poel, but it appears he was dropped off too early. He led for the first part of the sprint, holding off the challenge from Fernando Gaviria on his wheel, but once Merlier emerged from the slipstream to launch his sprint he had no answer to his explosive acceleration.

Here's what Tim Merlier had to say at the finish after his win.

Merlier had an especially nonchalant celebration at the finish, rubbing his shoulders with the chilled demeanour of a man who made it look inevitable that he would win today. This is the Belgian’s fourth Tour career stage win, and further evidence that he is probably the quickest pure sprinter in the world.

Today's triumphant stage winner on the podium, Tim Merlier.

He might have finished down in ninth place in the sprint, but Mads Pedersen still has a healthy lead in the points classification. Here’s what the rankings look like now:

1 Mads Pedersen 204

2 Biniam Girmay 145

3 Max Kanter 140

4 Tim Merlier 134

5 Jasper Philipsen 126

Thanks for joining us today! Tadej Pogačar’s first day back in the yellow jersey passed largely without incident or stress, while for us watching it was worth the wait, as we were treated to a thrilling bunch sprint in the finale.

The sprinters should all be set for a rematch tomorrow, for what is another mostly flat stage that will likely end in a bunch sprint. We’ll bring you all the action again tomorrow - be sure to tune in!