Belgian rider Tim Merlier won the seventh stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Friday while race favourite Tadej Pogačar kept the yellow jersey.
Merlier was manoeuvred into position to attack by his Soudal Quick-Step team and timed his move well to clinch his fourth Tour stage win.
“I’m delighted. When I launched my sprint I didn’t know how far it was,” Merlier said. “But I made it, thanks to the team, it was great work from them. After all the hard work two days ago and today it feels good to know I could repay the guys.”
Four-time Tour champion Pogačar finished safely in the main pack along with two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard, his closest rival. He maintained his lead of 2 minutes, 42 seconds over second-placed Vingegaard in the overall standings.
Pogačar reclaimed the yellow jersey from Norwegian rider Torstein Traeen with a typical attacking masterclass in the mountains of the Pyrenees on Thursday.
Traeen crashed in that stage and, although he completed it, he pulled out of the Tour after medical tests revealed multiple rib fractures and concussion.
Stage 7 took riders on a mostly flat 175-kilometre route from Hagetmau to the wine-loving city of Bordeaux.
In sweltering conditions hitting 36 degrees during an ongoing heatwave in the country, Frenchman Baptiste Veistroffer formed a two-man breakaway with Czech Jakub Otruba. They were caught with 18 kilometres left by the chasing pack as teams looked to place their leading sprinter in position to contest the victory.
Veteran Mathieu van der Poel rode hard and put Jasper Philipsen at the front with 250 metres to go, but Philipsen could not sustain his attack and was overtaken by Merlier.
“With 600 metres to go I got boxed in,” Merlier said. “But I told myself I would fight until the finish.”
Norwegian Søren Wærenskjold finished second and Eritrean Biniam Girmay placed third.
All three crossed the line in 3 hours, 44 minutes, 20 seconds.
Stage 8 on Sunday (AEST) is also made for sprinters and ends in the southeastern city of Bergerac.
The race concludes with its traditional finish in Paris on July 26.
AP
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