5 : SPRINT MASTER
Once again proving superior to his rivals in the sprint, Tim Merlier triumphed this Saturday on the streets of Bergerac, covering the technical final kilometre at an average speed of 67 km/h. The Belgian thus claimed his fifth Tour de France stage victory, coming just a day after his win in Bordeaux. The Soudal – Quick-Step sprinter had opened his account in 2021, on the third day in Pontivy, before raising his arms in victory twice last year, in Dunkirk and Châteauroux.
7 : MERLIER ENDS POGACAR’S STREAK
In Bergerac, Tim Merlier became the seventh rider to win two consecutive Tour stages in the last ten years. By raising his arms in victory in the Dordogne town, he became the first sprinter to achieve this feat since his compatriot Jasper Philipsen in 2023, who won that year on day three in Bayonne and again the following day at the Nogaro motor racing circuit. Merlier also put an end to Tadej Pogacar’s dominance in this regard. The Slovenian had previously secured a double (Pla d’Adet and Plateau de Beille) and even a triple (Isola 2000, Col de la Couillole and Nice) in 2024, after having done the same the year before by claiming stages 12 and 13 at Hautacam and Peyragudes in the Pyrenees.
126 : IN A NEW CIRCLE
Achieving five or more stage wins in the Grande Boucle is no easy feat, far from it. Proof of this lies in the fact that Tim Merlier is only the 126th rider in history to reach this milestone, out of the 865 stage winners the Tour has seen. That represents just 14.6 % of them ! Among the riders competing in this year's edition, aside from the Belgian sprinter, only three others have matched this achievement : Tadej Pogacar (23 wins), Jasper Philipsen (10) and Julian Alaphilippe (6).
9 : PODIUMS ARE BECOMING A HABIT
Also delivering an impressive sprint, Biniam Girmay, who finished second on the stage, secured another podium spot at the Tour de France. This marked the ninth time in his career that the Eritrean rider has made the podium. However, the NSN team sprinter has not tasted victory since stage 12 of the 2024 edition in Villeneuve-sur-Lot. Since then, the former green jersey wearer has finished second in Lille last year and third in Bordeaux this year.
3 : A ROUGH PATCH
Jasper Philipsen is having a rough patch in the early stages of this Tour de France. The Belgian, who is targeting stage wins in bunchsprints, has yet to reach the podium this year since the Grand Départ in Barcelona. For the Alpecin - Premier Tech sprinter, who finished 4th in Bergerac this Saturday and 5th in both Pau and Bordeaux, this marks the first time since 2019 that he has failed to make the podium in three consecutive bunch sprints. These results stand in contrast to his three straight victories in this discipline, in Pau and Nîmes in 2024, and in Lille last year. Nevertheless, Philipsen continues to demonstrate his consistency in bunchsprints. Out of the 28 sprint stages he has started since 2021, he has missed the top five only twice : in Turin at the finish of stage 2 of the 2024 Tour (118th after being held up by a crash), and in Dunkirk during stage 3 of the 2025 Tour (abandoning due to a crash).
1,4 : VAN DER POEL THEN SLOCK, MERLIER IS THEIR TORMENTOR
In the breakaway from the start of the stage, Liam Slock valiantly held off the sprinters' teams for many kilometres. The Lotto - Intermarché rider was finally caught by the peloton just 1.4 km from the finish line. The last rider to experience such a scenario so close to the end was Mathieu Van der Poel. The Dutchman, who was initially riding alongside his Belgian teammate Jonas Rickaert, had gone solo and held his ground until 800 metres from the line in Châteauroux during stage 9 last year. The winner of that stage was... Tim Merlier.
3 : A TEAM OF BOLD
Thanks to his solo effort while the peloton was chasing him, Liam Slock was awarded the combativity prize. This marks the third time his team, Lotto – Intermarché, has received this honor during this Tour — the 32nd time in its history — following Baptiste Veistroffer’s two breakaways on stages 5 and 7. It is also the second consecutive day the Belgian team has claimed the award, a feat they had not achieved since 2023. This year, Victor Campenaerts, rider for the team at the time, won it on stages 18 and 19 before being named the Tour’s "Super-Combatif" at the end of the race.
