Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour de France saw Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier take back-to-back sprint victories, conquering 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 sprint 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.
Today’s stage was a 180.4 km ride from Périgueux to Bergerac. The route featured 1,150 metres of elevation gain, with two cat. 4 ascents to be tackled. The sprinters were 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) was the first attacker of the day, as soon as the flag dropped. He was joined by Thibault Guernalec (Total Energies) but they were rapidly reeled in due to a series of attacks and counter-attacks.
It was then Liam Slock (Lotto Intermarché) who set off at km 3. Otruba and Guernalec attacked again to make it a three-man breakaway at km 6. The gap was up to 2 minutes when Merlier’s Soudal Quick-Step and Jasper Philipsen’s Alpecin-Premier Tech started pulling the bunch.
The gap never got higher than 2’15” at km 58. That was 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 went solo atop the Côte du Bouisson-de-Cadouin, with 40 kilometres to go. The peloton trailed by 1’40”. They struggled to bring the gap down, despite the support of Biniam Girmay’s NSN.
Merlier Frustrastes Slock
Slock was still a minute ahead as he entered the final 10 kilometres. Max Kanter’s XDS Astana team also moved to the front of the bunch, along with Rick Pluimers’ Tudor and Milan Fretin’s Cofidis sprint teams. Slock was eventually reeled in 1.5 kilometres from the line.
XDS Astana entered the final kilometre in pole position, but Mathieu Van der Poel powered to the front with Jasper Philipsen on his wheel. The Belgian sprinter couldn’t react when Olav Kooij and Tim Merlier passed him with 200 metres to go. The latter takes his second victory in two days, ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN) and Kooij.
Merlier hit a maximum speed of 72.2km/h on the way to his 50th victory in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey.
“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”, Merlier concluded.
2026 Tour de France: Stage 8 Brief Results
- Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) @ 3h 52;50″
- Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) s.t.
- Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) s.t.
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Premier Tech) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 8
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) @ 28h 49’07”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), +2’42”
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG), +3’27”
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +3’30”
- Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), +3’34”
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