Tim Merlier won a second Tour de France sprint on stage eight after a chaotic Bergerac finish. The Soudal Quick-Step rider recovered from a poor position to beat the fastest finishers again.
Merlier’s victory lifted him to second in the points classification, behind Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek. It also gave the Belgian his fifth career Tour de France stage win.
Tim Merlier fights back in final sprint
The sprint looked almost lost as the bunch rounded the final corner. Merlier had been edged out of position and sat well back as the lead-out trains lined up.
Mathieu van der Poel drove the Alpecin Premier-Tech train for Jasper Philipsen and stretched the front group. Merlier had to launch early, using slipstreams to move past riders one by one.
He surged down the left side with enough speed to pass Philipsen, Biniam Girmay and Olav Kooij. Girmay of NSN Cycling Team finished second, with Decathlon CMA GCM rider Kooij third.
Merlier said he had fought for position until the final moments. He was boxed in before the corner, then saw riders nearly crash. “I thought it was over,” he said after the stage.
He added that he tried to come back to the lead-out riders from around 250 metres out. His speed carried him clear, even though he said he could no longer push in the final 50 metres.
Soudal Quick-Step backs Merlier’s instincts
Jasper Stuyven had moved forward to place Merlier with just over two kilometres remaining. He said the finale became hectic again after Soudal Quick-Step was swamped near a corner with 2.4 kilometres to go.
Stuyven said he had to find a route and was unsure whether Merlier still followed. The team had also planned for Merlier to drift back if Stuyven needed to move early.
Stuyven praised Merlier’s timing, saying his teammate reads those moments well. He did not see the sprint unfold, but said Merlier had delivered again.
Breakaway caught inside final two kilometres
The 180.4-kilometre stage from Périgueux to Bergerac gave the general classification riders another quiet day. The flat route crossed the Dordogne’s rolling wine country, with chateaux, vineyards and rivers featuring along the course.
Liam Slock of Lotto Intermarché, Jakub Otruba of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Tour debutant Thibault Guernalec of TotalEnergies formed the early break. Alpecin Premier-Tech, Soudal Quick-Step and NSN Cycling Team shared control behind.
Otruba beat Slock at the intermediate sprint, just under 60 kilometres from the finish, to take 25 points. In the peloton, Philipsen, Max Kanter and Pedersen collected points from the remaining places.
Slock then attacked his breakaway companions on the Côte du Buisson-de-Cadouin, 40 kilometres from the line. His move first looked unlikely to survive, but he still held more than a minute inside the final 20 kilometres.
The gap barely fell over the next 10 kilometres, briefly raising the chance of a surprise. Wider roads, rising terrain and fresh teams at the front then cut his advantage quickly.
Slock was caught 1.3 kilometres from the finish, with the flamme rouge almost in sight. The catch set up the sprint that Merlier converted with a long-range effort.
Green jersey contest stays close
The green jersey race remains open after stage eight. Pedersen leads Merlier by 15 points, while Girmay sits 10 points behind Merlier on 203. Philipsen has 175 points.
The overall classification stayed led by Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 28:49:07. Jonas Vingegaard sits second at 2:42, with Isaac del Toro third at 3:27.
Remco Evenepoel is fourth at 3:30, while Florian Lipowitz is seventh at 4:00. The major GC gaps had already formed after stage six.