Key events10 Jul 2026Top 10 GC10 Jul 2026Points classification, top 10 after stage seven10 Jul 2026Stage seven: Top 1010 Jul 2026Stage seven - top five10 Jul 2026Tim Merlier wins Tour de France stage seven!10 Jul 2026Intermediate sprint: top 1010 Jul 2026Veistroffer wins the intermediate sprint at Landiras10 Jul 2026Racing on stage seven10 Jul 2026Points classification: top 10 before stage seven10 Jul 2026General classification: top 10 before stage seven10 Jul 2026PreambleJeremy WhittleTim Merlier of the Soudal-Quick Step team won the seventh stage of the Tour de France in a classic sprinter’s finish on the banks of the Garonne in Bordeaux.As the Tour headed away from the Pyrenees, through Gascony towards the Atlantic coast, a lull settled over a shell-shocked peloton as it came to terms with the demonstration of domination from Tadej Pogacar in Thursday’s mountain stage to Gavarnie-Gèdre.“What now?” was the question on most lips as the convoy gathered the morning after Pogacar’s Tourmalet masterclass, which took him into a seemingly unassailable lead on perennial rival, Jonas Vingegaard, the winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia.The consensus is that, unless the defending champion crashes or gets ill, victory is already assured. It’s a measure of his superiority that with only six stages of 21 raced so far, the conversation has already moved on to the fight for second and third place.Here’s an arty shot of Isaac del Toro on the podium. Jeremy Whittle’s stage report will be coming up soon.Isaac Del Toro in the best young rider’s white jersey. Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty“Leaving aside the fact that Alpecin mistimed their lead out, Philipsen clearly moved off his line to block Gaviria,” emails Adam. “He needs to be hauled in front of the commissaires!”The final sprint. Photograph: Dario Belingheri/Getty ImagesVelogames-wise, I love the idea that Pedersen could win tomorrow. But based on the form today, if Merlier gets a clear sight of goal, who is going to beat him?There may be a little bit of tension at the Alpecin-Premier Tech dinner table tonight. I hope they eat well, because there is plenty more work for them to do tomorrow.Speaking of tomorrow, I am back in the hotseat for stage eight.Here is William Fotheringham’s preview:Stage eight, Saturday 11 July: Périgueux to Bergerac, 180.4kmAnother day for the fast men, with only a couple of fourth-category molehills along the way. Expect the usual pattern of a doomed early escape by teams lacking a sprinter or general classification rider: Uno-X, TotalEnergies, Caja Rural. They will be swept up by the peloton late on, but the twist now is that the sprint trains do not like to use up their riders until the last minute, so the final kilometres become a poker game and Merlier’s Soudal are the masters of this. For a winner, pick Philipsen or Merlier or an outside bet such as Girmay or Mads Pedersen.Philipsen may feel he let his teammates down there, given all their hard work throughout the stage and to drop him off near the finish, but perhaps it was the other way around. Given the class in that team, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Philipsen win tomorrow.Tadej Pogacar on the podium:Tadej Pogacar in yellow. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPAOn TNT Sports, Adam Blythe believes Van der Poel and Alpecin-Premier Tech got the lead-out wrong. He reckons Van der Poel could have eased off, and waited another 100m or so.(Given the result, it’s hard to argue.)“It’s so difficult, at that point of the race, to wait,” says Blythe. “Philipsen was just dropped off too early.”Mathieu van der Poel. Photograph: Jasper Jacobs/Belga/ShutterstockTop 10 GCGeneral classification after stage seven1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 24hr 56’ 17’’