Belgian Tim Merlier dominated a bunch sprint finish for the second day running to claim victory in the eighth stage of the Tour de France 2026 on Saturday.
Merlier seemed out of contention when he was caught out of position in the last few hundred meters, but he launched a long-range charge to reel in all of his rivals and beat Eritrean Biniam Girmay into second, with Dutchman Olav Kooij third.
It was Merlier's fifth stage victory in his third Tour appearance and also brought him to within 15 points of Dane Mads Pedersen in the sprinters' green jersey competition.
- Subscribe To FloBikes To Catch All The Best Cycling, News And Highlights
- How To Subscribe To FloBikes To Watch The 2026 Tour de France In Canada
- 5 Riders Who Could Challenge Tadej Pogacar At The TDF 2026
- Who Won Stage 7 Of The Tour de France 2026? See The Full TDF Results Here
"If you win one, you can win a second, and I'm happy," Merlier said. "Three (sprint) stages, I won two. (It's) definitely my Tour de France."
The eighth stage in the Dordogne region, known for its 1,000 castles and ancient cave drawings, had always looked destined to finish with a bunch sprint.
Belgian Liam Slock tried to upset the formbook, setting off alone with 40 kilometers left after spending most of the day in a three-man breakaway.
But he was caught 1.3 kilometers from the line, and while former world champion Mathieu van der Poel did his best to set up Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen for the victory, Merlier simply proved too strong once again.
"It didn't feel like this," said Merlier when it was suggested to him that he was the sprint boss. "I needed to fight for my position all the time until the last minute. Just before the corner, I was a bit boxed in, and then they almost crashed. I thought it was over, so I gave it a try to come back off the guys who did the lead out. I was coming with so much speed."
He had been caught the wrong side of a gap when Van der Poel dragged another six riders clear of the others, but the Belgian simply turned on the power, with Girmay in his wheel, and charged through to win.
Kooij, who won the first sprint finish in Wednesday's fifth stage, darted out from behind Philipsen but could not match the acceleration of Soudal Quick-Step's Merlier.
Tour de France 2026 Stage 8 Featured A Three-Man Breakaway
The last two sprint stages had seen one-man and two-man breakaways, but this time, three riders headed off up the road together.
One of those was Slock, who made headlines - and went viral on social media - last month when he claimed his first victory in the professional ranks.
He crashed meters from the line as he lost control of his bicycle while celebrating early during the Gippingen Grand Prix in Switzerland.
However, he had enough momentum to slide over the line on his side and claim that precious victory, with his own Lotto-Intermarche team joking about it when posting a video of his unconventional finish on social media.
Slock was joined by Czech Jakub Otruba, who had been in the breakaway on Friday with Baptiste Veistroffer, and Frenchman Thibault Guernalec.
They had a lead of over two minutes at one point, but on the 2.2-kilometer Cote du Buisson-de-Cadouin, Otruba accelerated first, and then Slock left him in his wake before forging on alone with 40 kilometers still to race.
Slock held on admirably, but as the kilometers ticked down, it became increasingly clear that he would not make it it.
He was finally caught with 1.3 kilometers left, after more than 175 kilometers in a breakaway.
Tour de France 2026 Stage 9 Shortened
Tour de France organizers announced on Saturday that the next day's ninth stage would be shortened by 30km due to the extreme weather conditions in the central Correze region.
The decision was made after French weather authorities declared a "red alert due to an exceptionally intense heatwave" in Correze.
"In light of this, it has been decided to adjust the route of Stage nine of the Tour de France, from Malemort to Ussel, on Sunday 12 July 2026," race organizers ASO said in a statement.
Read more: Tour de France 2026 Stage 9 Shortened Because Of 'Intense Heatwave'
Tour de France 2026 Stage 8 Results – Top 25
- Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:52:50 (B10)
- Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) – 3:52:50 (B6)
- Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:52:50 (B4)
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:52:50
- Pavel Bittner (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:52:50
- Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:52:50
- Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:52:50
- Max Kanter (Groupama - FDJ United) – 3:52:50
- Clément Russo (XDS Astana Team) – 3:52:50
- Milan Fretin (Cofidis) – 3:52:50
- Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) – 3:52:50
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) – 3:52:50
- Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) – 3:52:50
- Dorian Godon (Netcompany INEOS) – 3:52:50
- Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) – 3:52:50
- Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:52:50
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain - Victorious) – 3:52:50
- Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Intermarché) – 3:52:50
- Quentin Pacher (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 3:52:50
- Fred Wright (Groupama - FDJ United) – 3:52:50
- Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) – 3:52:50
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:52:50
- Niklas Märkl (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:52:50
- Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:52:50
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 3:52:50
Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 8
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 28:49:07 (B26)
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 28:51:49 (B12)
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 28:52:34 (B14)
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 28:52:37 (B4)
- Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 28:52:41
- Florian Lipowitz (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 28:53:02
- Paul Seixas (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 28:53:07
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 28:53:28
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 28:54:04
- Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) – 28:56:17
- Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) – 28:58:19
- Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 28:58:42
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 28:58:49
- Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 28:58:52
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 28:58:57
- Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 28:59:53
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) – 28:59:58
- Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 29:00:03
- Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 29:01:28
- Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) – 29:02:13
- Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 29:02:22
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 29:02:31
- Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 29:02:40
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 29:03:38
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 29:04:31 (B4)
Catch All The Best Races, Highlights, Insight, News And More On FloBikes
FloBikes is the streaming home to some of the best cycling from across the globe. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more of your favorites in action.
FloBikes Archived Footage
Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloBikes subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.