{"id":685944,"date":"2026-07-11T11:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/685944\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T11:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:43:12","slug":"tour-de-france-stage-8-live-merlier-kooij-and-philipsen-primed-for-sprinters-rematch-in-bergerac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/685944\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France stage 8 LIVE \u2013 Merlier, Kooij and Philipsen primed for sprinters’ rematch in Bergerac"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-07-11T11:39:31.626Z<\/p>\n

The peloton has now bunched up and slowed down, with Liam Slock having got up the road, and been joined by Thibault Guernalec and Jakub Otruba set to join him. Those three riders will be the break of the day.<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T11:35:12.674Z<\/p>\n

Kasper Asgreen is among the riders who have tried to get clear, and has been spotted and identified as dressed for a breakaway attempt by NSN, who are hoping to keep this stage controlled for their sprinter Biniam Girmay.<\/p>\n

As a rider with a huge engine who has defied likely bunch sprints in the past, he’s exactly the kind of rider they won;t want to let up the road, as reflected by how he\u2019s been marked out of the break so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Asgreen, and he has shoe covers, aero helmet. I think he is ready.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

NSN DS
\n<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T11:30:54.672Z
\nOFFICIAL START<\/p>\n

And they’re off! Prudhomme waves the flag, and a flurry of attacks come of from the peloton, none of which have stuck yet. This has already been more of a battle than yesterday.<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T11:27:05.863Z<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s another flat stage tailor made for sprinters, the terrain is a little bumpier than yesterday, and could therefore be a little more complicated than yesterday\u2019s. Only two riders went up the road then – according to this Lotto DS, more might have a go today.<\/p>\n

“Stay in the front a bit for the start. There might be a little more action than the previous days.”<\/p>\n

Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 DS<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T11:23:06.377Z<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Paul Seixas before the start earlier. Interestingly, he\u2019s wearing a mask – whether or not that\u2019s precautionary, or if he\u2019s carrying an illness, is unclear. In any case, thankfully for him today should essentially be a day off for the GC riders, on a parcours that is flat and which will be about avoiding incident or mishap rather than a test of legs.<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T11:17:14.793Z<\/p>\n

The riders have heard the countdown for the unofficial start, and are riding though the streets of P\u00e9rigueux.<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T11:05:34.604Z<\/p>\n

The sprinters at the Tour could do well to listen to the observations of Caleb Ewan. The Australian was one of the most prolific of his generation at this race, and has been analysing this year\u2019s sprints from his role of commentary box for SBS.<\/p>\n

‘I always love watching the sprints’ – Caleb Ewan analyses the Tour de France sprint in Bordeaux<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T10:53:22.207Z<\/p>\n

S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold at the start of the day, referencing the Norwegian football team\u2019s drum and Viking row routine from the football World Cup, ahead of their match against England tonight.<\/p>\n

W\u00e6renskjold was second in the sprint yesterday, and the last time England faced an opponent at the World Cup (Mexico), a rider from that nation won at the Tour – Issac del Toro. Is that a good omen for the Norwegian?<\/p>\n

\n

\"PERIGUEUX,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T10:40:32.540Z<\/p>\n

If you’re keen on your tech and looking for something to read before the stage starts, Josh Croxton has rounded up all of his finds that didn’t make it into our main galleries.<\/p>\n

From the handy to the random, there’s all sorts in here. Definitely worth a look.<\/p>\n

Tech randoms from the Tour de France \u2013 Techy, silly and curious finds from the biggest race in the world<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Seat\n<\/p>\n

Sometimes the most interesting thing about a bike is the saddle’s resemblance to an emu (Image credit: Future)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T10:20:52.490Z<\/p>\n

Today’s stage will be underway in just over an hour.<\/p>\n

Here’s a reminder of how the sprinters fared yesterday:<\/p>\n

Tour de France: Tim Merlier banishes bunch in Bordeaux for stage 7 sprint victory<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"BORDEAUX,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T10:08:01.733Z<\/p>\n

Obviously today is a sprint day, but our Deputy Editor Patrick Fletcher has been reflecting on the GC, the decisive day that was stage 6, and if the course designers could have avoided a stage that opened up such big time gaps so early on…<\/p>\n

The Tour de France organisers wanted ‘suspense to the end’ but the Tourmalet stage design backfired dramatically \u2013 and they should have seen it coming<\/a><\/p>\n

In pitching this Tour de France, “suspense until the end” was a repeated refrain from the race director, Christian Prudhomme, who insisted: “Until the last mountain stage, anything is possible.”
\nOne week in, we have a gap of nearly three minutes between first and second place, and a yellow jersey that will remain on the shoulders of Tadej Poga\u010dar for the next two weeks unless something utterly extraordinary happens.<\/p>\n

Patrick Fletcher<\/p>\n

\n

\"Tadej\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-07-11T09:59:43.432Z
\nStage 8 preview<\/p>\n

Here’s a closer look at what is in store today.<\/p>\n

Sprint stages seem to be like buses at this year’s Tour de France, as after having to wait until stage 5 for the first opportunity, the fast men are getting three chances in quick succession, with stage 8’s flat run to Bergerac coming hot off the heels of a sprint battle in Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

No one sprinter has asserted dominance in this Tour yet, with Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) winning the first test in Pau<\/a>, and then Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) romping to victory on stage 7<\/a>. He’ll be tantalised at the chance to make it two in a row, but it’s also possible we see a third different winner from a super open sprint field.<\/p>\n

Full preview: Tour de France stage 8 preview \u2013 A rematch for the sprinters in Bergerac as Merlier goes for two in a row<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Route\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: ASO)<\/p>\n

Welcome to today’s stage!<\/p>\n

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of stage 8 of the Tour de France<\/a>!<\/p>\n

We’re expecting another sprint finish today, with the parcours almost totally pan-flat and a very sprint-friendly finale in Bergerac. That means we’re getting two sprint days in a row after yesterday’s gallop into Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The main question we’re asking is less about the sprint though, and more about the breakaway. Let’s hope there’s a real break, and not just a lone rider as we saw on stage 5…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026-07-11T11:39:31.626Z The peloton has now bunched up and slowed down, with Liam Slock having got up the road,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-685944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}