Saturday, July 11th, 8th stage: Périgueux > Bergerac – Back-to-back victories for Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), who conquers Bergerac the day after winning in Bordeaux. Breakaway rider Liam Slock (Lotto Intermarché) resisted all to the way to the final 1.5 kilometres, but stage 8 of the Tour de France 2026 was eventually decided in a sprinter that favoured the Belgian star. He now has five stage wins at the race and becomes the first sprinter to win two consecutive stages since Jasper Philipsen in the opening days of the Tour 2023. The Alpecin-Premier Tech fast man had to settle for fourth in Bergerac, one place better than in Bordeaux. Biniam Girmay (NSN) finished second and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) rounded out the stage’s top three. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) safely came through the stage to retain the Maillot Jaune ahead of a hilly stage 9 on the roads of Corrèze.
Back-to-back opportunities for the sprinters? After Bordeaux, where Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) powered to victory, the peloton head to Bergerac with a 180.4-km stage from Périgueux. The route features no more than 1,150 metres of elevation gain, with two cat. 4 ascents to be tackled. Sprinters are convinced they can follow in the footsteps of Marcel Kittel, the last winner in Bergerac (2017) at the end of a very similar stage starting in Périgueux.
Slock makes the break
Already on the move on stage 8, Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) is the first attacker of the day, as soon as the flag drops. He is joined by Thibault Guernalec (Total Energies) but they’re rapidly reeled in due to a series of attacks and counter-attacks.
It is then Liam Slock (Lotto Intermarché) who sets off at km 3. Otruba and Guernalec attack again to make it a three-man breakaway at km 6. The gap is up to 2 minutes when Tim Merlier’s Soudal Quick-Step and Jasper Philipsen’s Alpecin-Premier Tech start pulling the bunch.
Slock gets away
The gap never gets higher than 2’15’’ at km 58. That’s more than enough for Slock to conquer the two categorised ascents of the day, Côte de Domme (summit at km 102.6) and Côte du Bouisson-de-Cadouin (km 140.4), while Otruba dominates the intermediate sprint. In the bunch, Philipsen gets the better of Max Kanter (XDS Astana) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
Slock goes solo atop the Côte du Bouisson-de-Cadouin, with 40 kilometres to go. The peloton trail by 1’40’’. They struggle to bring the gap down, despite the support of Biniam Girmay’s NSN.
Merlier frustrastes Slock
Slock is still a minute ahead as he enters the final 10 kilometres. Max Kanter’s XDS Astana move to the front of the bunch. So do Rick Pluimers’ Tudor and Milan Fretin’s Cofidis. Slock is eventually reeled in 1.5 kilometres from the line.
XDS Astana enter the final kilometre in pole position, but Mathieu Van der Poel powers to the front with Jasper Philipsen on his wheel. The Belgian sprinter can’t react when Olav Kooij and Tim Merlier pass him with 200 metres to go. The latter takes his second victory in two days, ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN) and Kooij.
Merlier said, “First of all, I want to thank the team, they did an amazing job again! I’m happy that I could win again after what was a hectic finale. I had to fight for position all the time and until the last meter of the stage. Just before the last corner I was a bit boxed in, and then they almost crashed. I thought it was over but I gave it a try to come back to the guys who did the lead-out and I managed to do that with a lot of speed, right up until the last 50 meters, where I felt my legs completely empty.”
“Most of the time, when you get a win, you also get a second one, and I’m delighted and proud I can count two victories after the first week of racing here,” he exclaimed.
Stage 8 Results:
| 1 | T. MERLIER | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 03h 52′ 50” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | B. GIRMAY | NSN CYCLING TEAM | 03h 52′ 50” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | O. KOOIJ | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 03h 52′ 50” | – | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | J. PHILIPSEN | ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
| 5 | P. BITTNER | TEAM PICNIC POSTNL | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
| 6 | R. PLUIMERS | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
| 7 | P. ACKERMANN | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
| 8 | C. RUSSO | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
| 9 | M. KANTER | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
| 10 | M. FRETIN | COFIDIS | 03h 52′ 50” | – | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 8:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 28h 49′ 07” | – | B : 26” | – |
| 2 | J. VINGEGAARD | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 28h 51′ 49” | + 00h 02′ 42” | B : 12” | – |
| 3 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 28h 52′ 34” | + 00h 03′ 27” | B : 14” | – |
| 4 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 28h 52′ 37” | + 00h 03′ 30” | B : 4” | – |
| 5 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 28h 52′ 41” | + 00h 03′ 34” | – | – |
| 6 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 28h 53′ 02” | + 00h 03′ 55” | – | – |
| 7 | F. LIPOWITZ | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 28h 53′ 07” | + 00h 04′ 00” | – | – |
| 8 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 28h 53′ 28” | + 00h 04′ 21” | – | – |
| 9 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 28h 54′ 04” | + 00h 04′ 57” | – | – |
| 10 | M. VACEK | LIDL-TREK | 28h 56′ 17” | + 00h 07′ 10” | – | – |
