4 hours ago
8
Key events
Emma John
Start practising those excuses. For England fans, this Saturday is one of those that demands serious thought, by which I mean how to wheedle out of prior engagements and family obligations. No fewer than four of the national teams are in action, and to catch all the matches will require time, dedication and some nifty work with a TV recorder. How else can you expect to navigate the problem of the rugby team’s Fiji fixture kicking off only 20 minutes before the men’s T20 against India?
With some judicious content-stacking and spoiler-avoiding, however, a fan with the right subscriptions can expect to enjoy 13 uninterrupted hours on the sofa – starting with the morning session of the women’s Test and climaxing with a late-night footballing knockout against Norway. Nor is England the only game in town: there are three other home nations rugby matches to be watched, a Wimbledon women’s singles final, and the Tour de France.
82km to go: The Château de Montfort is on my telly. Very lovely it is too.
Who fancies the solitary KOM point, of the three breakaway riders?
86km to go: The three-man break, with a two-minute advantage on the chasing bunch, is approaching the first climbette of the day: the category-four Côte de Domme.
90km to go: 1min 37sec the gap. Plenty of happy fans at the roadside as the sun continues to beat down. Mathieu van der Poel is working on the front of the bunch, and having a chat with (I think) Pascal Eenkhorn of Soudal-Quick Step.
95km to go: The average speed is 43.1km/h, which is serene by the standards of the modern Tour de France. The gap is 1min 36sec.
There’s a ridiculous amount of sport on today: this is all the live stuff we’ve got going on right now, aside from the majesty of the Tour de France.
Rugby:
Cricket:
Cricket part deux:
Horse racing:
World Cup:
97km to go: The Frenchman Godon, of Netcompany-Ineos, was just goading a few Belgian companions in the peloton over last night’s World Cup result:
The gap is 1min 22sec.
100km to go: The gap is 1min 32sec.
On the telly, they just showed Uno X-Mobility doing the Viking row before the stage start earlier, in anticipation of Norway v England later.
You can see all the World Cup quarter-final buildup here:
105km to go: Under 30km to ride until the first climb of the day, the Cote de Domme. It’s 3.7km in length, with an altitude of 216m, and an average gradient of 3.3%.
108km to go: “Everything’s calculated way too much now,” Blythe says of modern bike racing, referring specifically to how much leeway the breakaway is being given.
“There used to be a chance to have a chat to your friends before you started racing … now, sadly, it’s serious racing from the gun, off you go, 280watts all day.”
I spoke to a former pro rider about this issue a few years back, and he pointed at Team Sky as the reason that bike racing has changed beyond all recognition from the olden days.
112km to go: Slock has an issue and briefly drops away from his two breakaway companions. He bridges back on.
On commentary, Adam Blythe is fantasising about having really strong riders – for instance Filippo Ganna – in the breakaway.
“It would be great,” says Sean Kelly. “But it wouldn’t be allowed.”
115km to go: “I’ve played cricket in Périgueux,” emails Gary Naylor.
“It was how I imagine sitting in an air fryer would feel.”
Cricket in France? I’ve heard it all now.
116km to go: The gap is 2min. What do we know about the three riders in the break?
Liam Slock, as mentioned earlier, won the GP Gippingen this season, going viral after stacking it across the finish line while celebrating.
Jakub Otruba was second in the time trial at the national championships (in Czechia), and third in the road race, which shows you he’s going pretty well this year. He won the ITT national title in 2023.
Thibaut Guernalec, who was born in Brittany, has been a professional for around a decade but I don’t think he has a win on his palmarès. He rode the Giro in 2023, finishing 90th overall, and rode the Vuelta the year before that (DNF).
122km to go: Hang on, there was a Bergerac reboot on telly last year?
“A grittier, modernised take on the classic 1980s detective drama,” AI tells me.
That doesn’t sound too promising.
“At the summit of the category-four Domme climb,” emails Dan from out on the race route in sunny France. “Two hours before the riders arrive, the crowd are going bonkers.”
125km to go: As we’re heading to Bergerac, we’re going to need at least one 1980s TV reference.
Is Charlie Hungerford somehow going to become embroiled in the story of Tour de France stage eight, in suitably unlikely fashion?
2min is the gap.
130km to go: The three riders up front – Slock, Guernalec and Otruba – continue to press on. The gap is out to 2min 09sec.
131km to go: 1min 55sec is the gap between break and peloton. Nothing to see here. Can I go for a nap?
133km to go: Of the control being exerted over the breakaway by the peloton, Jens Voigt says on TNT Sports: “What are they afraid of? It’s three riders … Give them three or four minutes.
“Give them a chance, some belief to stay out there … in modern cycling, they don’t give them much belief, huh?”
134km to go: “It’s really, really easy,” says someone on the XDS-Astana Team radio, of conditions at the back of the peloton.
135km to go: The gap is 1min 13sec.
138km to go: The TV helicopter hovers over Château de Montignac, in the Dordogne. An impressive affair, but no images to share here.
Let’s take a moment instead to enjoy this lovely photo by Stephanie Lecocq of Reuters: a woman watching the three-man breakaway sail past her window.
142km to go: 1min 17sec the gap. Still about 70km or so to race (or maybe ride, more accurately) until the first categorised climb of the day, the Côte de Domme.
On commentary, Robbie McEwen is talking about Tim Merlier, who won in impressive fashion yesterday.
“He’s almost the antithesis of what we expect a sprinter to be: loud, fast-talking, fiery … Outside of the sprint, he seems slightly docile. But it seems to help him. He gets it done. Dust the shoulders off, another victory.”
146km to go: The gap is holding at 1min 33sec. Pogacar, all in yellow, dropped back from the bunch for some reason, maybe a mechanical. Nothing dramatic.
Re: Philipsen and that interview: he actually said twice in quick succession that Alpecin-Premier Tech need to take the positives from yesterday. He is fully focused on taking the positives. But a win would be nice …
150km to go: The gap is 1min 41sec. Slock, Guernalec and Otruba are working well together out front to keep the chasing peloton honest.
The man himself, Philipsen, also had a chat earlier. Is he close to a win?
“We really did an amazing job with the team yesterday. I think we really have to look at the positives from yesterday. The thing we were there, as one team, we really did an amazing job as a team … we were really united, that’s very positive. We will try and deliver again today and hopefully I will have more speed in the legs as well.
“The final is complicated. The speed will be less high than yesterday. Something to look into, in the final.”
How does he see Tim Merlier, still competing at the highest level?
“Of course, he’s one of the fastest up there, his sprint is very strong. It’s always a hard one to beat, but a nice rivalry, I think.”
156km to go: The gap is 1min 25sec. Soudal-Quick Step are now on the front, in the form of the veteran 34-year-old Jasper Stuyven.
160km to go: The gap between peloton and break is 1min 20sec.
Christoph Roodhoft, the Alpecin-Premier Tech DS, had a chat with Hannah Walker of TNT Sports earlier.
“We will try to control. We will see how it goes. The goal of the team is to bring Jasper to a spot where he can launch his sprint,” he said.
“[Yesterday] In the end you could say it was 50m, 75m too early … the main issue is Jasper didn’t have the legs to win a Tour de France stage yesterday. But the team was there, and it’s something to build on.
“When he has a good day, the distance [the 250m from the finish that Van der Poel dropped him off] was perfect …
“He came [arrived at the race] close to his top form – but not every year is the same – there is no logical explanation, so far.
Is he still motivated?
“Yes of course. Luckily.”
As mentioned by the commentators, a very good interview by Hannah Walker.
162km to go: All right then, who is going over to the Tour this year, and/or who has already been?
Mail me your Tour de France adventures.
164km to go: It’s 1min 30sec for the break. The die has been cast. Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal Quick-Step are working on the front to control the gap.
168km to go: Tim Merlier had a chat with TNT Sports before the start. What is the secret to his consistency, at 33 years old?
“Maybe just believe in myself and … I don’t know.”
What about today’s finish?
“For me, it looks a bit similar to yesterday – position will be really important.
“Hopefully, I can launch my sprint like I did yesterday, on the right moment.”
Another fascinating glimpse inside the mind of an elite sportsperson.
If you missed it, check out Jeremy Whittle’s stage seven report:
170km to go: “Liam Slock set the internet ablaze recently when he tumbled while crossing the line in winning the GP Gippingen,” wrote William Fotheringham in his pre-race team-by-team guide:
171km to go: Up to 2min for the break.
173km to go: A few riders are stopping for a pee. The gap to the break is out to 1min 14sec.
The three-man break consists of:
Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché
Jakub Otruba (Caja-Rural)
Thibaut Guernalec (TotalEnergies).
174km to go: It’s nearly a minute for Slock at the front now. He’s joined by Jakub Otruba (Caja-Rural) and Thibaut Guernalec (TotalEnergies).
175km to go: Slock has 14sec and is joined by two other riders. Looks like we have the day’s break.
Hang on, Slock is still on his own, but I think two others are bridging across. Yes, Otruba is one of them, he was in the break yesterday too.
176km: While acknowledging that no one cares about my Velogames team … Liam Slock is in my Velogames team. Added intrigue for one Tour de France live blogger.
177km to go: Lotto-Intermarché have a bash. A dearth of TV graphics as to who these riders actually are … but wait! It’s Liam Slock out front on his own!
178km to go: Still there is action up front. Again, two riders break off the front … but it’s closed down again and all back together.
179km to go: A couple of riders broke away – one from Caja-Rural – then a much bigger group formed, and the peloton shut it down tout de suite.
Racing on Tour de France stage eight
180km to go: And they’re off.
“I’m trying to instil a bit of drama here,” says Carlton Kirby, in response to Kelly’s assessment that it will be another relaxed day for the peloton. “A bit of jeopardy … but you’re probably right.”
Less than a kilometre until the flag waves. What are the odds of Veistroffer and AN Other being allowed to slink off up the road?
William Fotheringham
Stage eight, Saturday 11 July: Périgueux to Bergerac, 180.4km
Another 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.
“Tomorrow is a breakaway day, guaranteed,” opines Sean Kelly on commentary for TNT Sports. “For that reason, I think we’ll see another day like yesterday.”
Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto–Intermarché) is up front next to the race commissaire’s car.
On that team’s radio, the DS says they expect there might be a bit more action at the start today than previous days …
Neutralised rollout begins
The riders are on the road, with another 4km to pootle before the official stage start.
William Fotheringham
The Tour de France and the heat of the midday sun are old bedfellows, going back long before an era when the biggest catastrophe of the Tour’s opening week was a major fault in the Visma team bus’s air conditioning. Flip back 50 years to my favourite Tour read, the late Geoffrey Nicholson’s The Great Bike Race, and we find the doyen of cycling writers discussing a Tour that began in baking conditions in the Vendée, and continued through the canicule in central France and Normandy.
“The heatwave,” wrote Nicholson, “is becoming a serious worry.” He describes the late Raymond “Pou-Pou” Poulidor as “an old sweat” – pun alert – “in legionnaire matters”, who was “careful to limit himself to two litres of water on a stage … it is part of the collective wisdom of the peloton that too much water leads to depression and fatigue.” Tell that to the Tour men of 2026 as they glug down one bidon after another.
Nicholson harks back to heatwaves now long forgotten; “the summer of 1951 when suffering from the Languedoc sun, Fausto Coppi lost 33 minutes on the stage to Montpellier. More recently, and nearer home, there was the dog- day Tour of 1957 when the baking roads of Normandy forced 66 of the 120 [starters] to retire.”
“It’s a different sprint again,” says Lewis Askey of NSN Cycling Team, who will be riding for Girmay today.
“Some wide roads, leading up to some pinch points. A lot of teams are going to want to be in a good position … all the sprint teams will be thinking the same thing, at the same time … we might have a few more guys in the lead-out than we did yesterday, but it’ll be a similar-ish approach.”
Askey is asked about how teams research the final kilometres for the lead-outs: “We have the videos of everything,” he says. “It’s not that you remember metre-by-metre, but the important things are also getting repeated in your ear [on the team radio].
‘I find it useful to have two or three main points, and if I get those right, everything else will fall into place.
“My focus is follow the guy in front of me, whose job is it to deliver me into the point where I start my job … I focus on his wheel.
“If they do their job properly, I’ll be in the right place to do my job … the hardest thing is getting yourself in that position in the first place.”
On the telly, they’re discussing the dynamics of the sprint finishes: we’ve had two bunch kicks and two different winners, Olaf Kooij and Tim Merlier. I fancy we’ll see a different winner today, and the pressure is on Philipsen to deliver, likewise Biniam Girmay.
“Hello!” writes Bill.
“Now that Pogacar has gotten his stomp on the race and the winners are all decided, I am thrilled to be looking forward to day after day of thrilling heroics from the breakaway groups.
“As you say, those climbs at the end look very tempting. Apart from the heat, what’s the wind doing? I have only have returned from the French Alps and it’s crazy warm there.”
The wind, good question.
Some photographs from Périgueux:
That was an interesting finish yesterday. It’s true that Merlier showed patience, but on the other hand, he also said he felt he’d been boxed in, that he felt he wasn’t in the perfect position to open up his sprint. Would he have won had he been right on Philipsen’s wheel?
Points classification: top 10 after stage seven
1) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 204pts
2) Biniam Girmay (NSN) 145pts
3) Max Kanter (XDS Astana) 140pts
4) Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) 134pts
5) Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) 126pts
6) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 75pts
7) Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) 73pts
8) Olaf Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) 70pts
9) Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 64pts
10) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) 61pts
2.5km to go. Surely, Alpecin–Premier Tech won’t cock this up again?
Naturally, I am currently watching the TNT Sports stage seven highlights before the start of today’s live coverage. Netcompany Ineos did a lot of work for what turned out to be eighth place for Dorian Godon.
Will the presence of that uncategorised climb early in the route mean a proper fight to form a breakaway?
Feel free to mail me with your predictions for today, or anything Tour de France-related.
It’s worth noting that the first part of the stage is not pan-flat. In fact, there are two uncategorised climbs bigger than the categorised ones: the riders will reach a dizzying 261m of altitude at Thenon, after 26.2km, then the top of the climb at Sarlat-la-Canéda looks like it’s nearly the same sort of height.
Preamble
Today’s flat stage is a smidgen longer than yesterday’s – 180km v 175km – and involves a little more climbing: 1150m v 850m.
The presence of two category-four climbs in the latter half of the route may interest potential escape artists: the top of the Côte de Domme comes at 102.6km, while the Côte de Buisson-de-Cadouin crests at 140.4km.
Then again, the green jersey contenders will want to be present and correct at the intermediate sprint between those two climbs, at Saint-Cyprien, after 122.8km.
Let’s be real, though: it will be another day closely controlled by the likes of Alpecin–Premier Tech and Soudal-Quick-Step, setting up Jasper Philipsen, yesterday’s victor Tim Merlier, and the rest of the peloton’s sprinters for a hectic bunch kick in Bergerac.
It will be fast, it will be hot, it will be hundreds of men in lycra riding expensive carbon bikes while shoving ice cubes down their jerseys. It’s the Tour de France.
Neutralised stage start time: 13.15 CET/12.15/BST
