Belgian Tim Merlier dominated a bunch sprint finish for the second day running to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday.
Merlier seemed out of contention when he was caught out of position in the last few hundred metres, but launched a long-range charge to reel in his rivals and beat Ethiopia’s Biniam Girmay into second place. Dutchman Olav Kooij finished third.
It was Merlier’s fifth stage victory in his third Tour appearance and also brought him to within 15 points of Denmark’s Mads Pedersen in the sprinters’ green jersey competition.
The eighth stage in the Dordogne region, known for its 1,000 castles and ancient cave drawings, had always looked set to finish with a bunch sprint.
Belgian Liam Slock tried to upset the formbook, setting off alone with 40km left after spending most of the day in a three-man breakaway.
But he was caught 1.3km from the line and while former world champion Mathieu van der Poel did his best to set up Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen for the victory, Merlier proved too strong once again.
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“It didn’t feel like this,” Merlier said when it was suggested to him that he was the sprint boss.
“I needed to fight for my position all the time until the last minute.
“Just before the corner, I was a bit boxed in, and then they almost crashed.
“I thought it was over, so I gave it a try to come back off the guys who did the leadout.
“I was coming with so much speed.”
Merlier had been caught on the wrong side of a gap when Van der Poel dragged another six riders clear of the others, but the Belgian turned on the power, with Girmay in his wheel, and charged through to win.
Kooij, who won the first sprint finish in Wednesday’s fifth stage, darted out from behind Philipsen but could not match the acceleration of Soudal Quick-Step’s Merlier.
The last two sprint stages had seen one-man and two-man breakaways, but this time three riders went up the road together.
One of them was Slock, who made headlines and went viral on social media last month when he claimed his first victory in the professional ranks.
He crashed metres from the line after losing control of his bicycle while celebrating early during the Gippingen Grand Prix in Switzerland.
However, he had enough momentum to slide over the line on his side and claim the victory, with his Lotto-Intermarche team joking about the unconventional finish while posting the video on social media.
Slock was joined by Czech rider Jakub Otruba, who had been in the breakaway on Friday with Baptiste Veistroffer, and Frenchman Thibault Guernalec.
The trio had a lead of more than two minutes at one point, but on the 2.2km Cote du Buisson-de-Cadouin, Otruba accelerated first before Slock left him in his wake and went on alone with 40km still to race.
Slock held on admirably, but as the kilometres ticked down, it became increasingly clear that he would not make it.
He was finally caught with 1.3km left after more than 175km in a breakaway.
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Published on Jul 11, 2026