Tom Bassam will guide you through tomorrow’s stage nine, which looks ripe for a breakaway. I’ll be back on Tuesday, God willing, for stage 10. Au revoir.

Stage nine, Sunday 12 July: Malemort to Ussel, 185.5km

A lumpy day out through the Corrèze region with 3,300m of climbing; only four ranked climbs, but a wealth of additional little ascents and probably blistering heat to boot. The climbs should not panic the overall contenders barring any issues such as punctures or crashes on the twisting, narrow roads, so this is an obvious stage for a breakaway and the second-string teams will know there will not be many such opportunities. The likely outcome is a solo move from the break off the final climb of Mont Bessou, with many potential winners including Pello Bilbao or Richard Carapaz.

Jeremy Whittle reports on stage eight:

An alternative angle of Merlier’s winning moment.

Yesterday, I initially missed the fact that Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) withdrew after his crash on the Tourmalet. What a rollercoaster week for him.

There were no withdrawals from the race for stage eight. You can keep tabs on those here.

Top 10 GC

General classification after stage eight

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 28hr 49min 07sec
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), +2min 42sec
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), +3 min 27sec
4. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3min 30sec
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) + 3min 34sec
6. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +3min 55sec
7. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4min
8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) +4min 21sec
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) at +4min 57sec
10. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) at +7min 10sec

No change in the GC, obvs.

“Now, I’m for sure disappointed,” says Slock, after coming so very close to a heroic victory. “That’s the feeling that I feel now. If you are so close, you want to win, of course. It still was a long way but, yeah, quite close I think.”

When did he stop believing? “On the big road, I think, between 10km and 6km. There I felt there were coming a lot closer. It was a little bit uphill, and I knew there, the pace would be really high in the peloton. So I was feeling there, they’re coming closer, and I was losing time and the power in the legs was going a bit.

“For the moment, I’m not really proud, but that will come tonight, I think.”

The wait for Girmay and Philipsen goes on, then. Both of them will be under pressure to win when the next flat stage comes – on Wednesday, stage 11 between Vichy and Nevers.

A week later, there’s a flat stage between Chambery and Voiron, then there’s the flattish affair in Paris on the final day. But chances are few and far between.

Tim Merlier is told that he just showed everyone who is boss:

“It didn’t feel like this,” says the Belgian. “I needed to fight for my position until the last minute … just before the last corner, I was a bit boxed in, then I almost crashed. I thought it was over.

“I gave it a try, to come back … I was coming with so much speed - With 250m to go, I say, ‘I’ll give it a try and we see’. In the last 50m, I couldn’t push anymore.

“In this heat it was a really difficult effort … Mostly, if you win one, you can win a second … I’m happy.”

Is it a good Tour for him now, regardless?

“Definitely, my Tour is ‘ready.’”

Is it sweet revenge after the defeat for Belgium in football?

“Correct.”

Jasper Stuyven, one of Merlier’s Soudal-Quick Step lead-out men, speaks: “Hectic final again. Astana had it really well timed … at least for us. We got a bit swamped on the corner with 2.4km to go … I am not sure if Tim was following … he is super good at feeling the right moment. He did it once again.

“I’m feeling happy, performing, feeling supported … they [the team] trust me, they give me confidence.”

Can he race for the stage tomorrow?

“I think that’s the plan, yes,” Stuyven says, not looking entirely thrilled at having revealed the fact.

With 400m to go, Merlier was nowhere. Maybe 10 riders back.

“He was not in the picture when they came through that final corner,” says McEwen.

That was absolutely phenomenal from Merlier. He was a long way back. And he blew everyone away once he had a chance to accelerate.

500m to go: Van der Poel takes it up …

1km to go: There are some big turns to come including the big right-hander at 500m.

1.4km to go: Game over. Slock is caught! It’s a sprint finish to come.

2km: Oddly, the chase seemed to become very disorganised for a moment there. Slock has still got 8sec. But his days are numbered.

2.5km to go: Through the winding streets of Bergerac now. It’s 10sec the gap.

“He deserves it … but it’s not going to be enough,” says the voice of reason Sean Kelly.

3km to go: He’s got 13sec.

3.5km to go: Slock negotiates an uphill section. He gets out of the saddle. He knows he’s so, so close to a remarkable victory.

4km to go: Slock seems to find a second, third or fourth wind and holds the gap at 26sec for a while … then it’s back down to 22sec.

4.5km to go: 25sec the gap.

5.5km to go: Over on X, the legendary Thomas de Gendt also thought Slock had the win in the bag … But it looks like the game is up. Massive effort from Slock though.

6.5km to go: It’s 40sec now. “He’s starting to suffer. The fatigue is starting to hit,” says Kelly on commentary. And Slock is now in sight of the chasing bunch on a long, sweeping right-hand bend leading into Bergerac …

8km to go: The gap falls to 52sec.

9.5km to go: A minute the gap. The chase behind is much more determined now. A bit of panic is setting in.

Slock gets out of his seat to try and keep the power up … he looks like he’s running out of steam?

10.5km to go: The gap is 1min 09sec.

More teams are moving up and helping the chase … and the gap is down to 1min 06sec.

12km to go: “Slocky” takes two bottles from a motorbike alongside. One of them, he just empties over his head.

“We know it could change very quickly,” Rob Hatch correctly observes. But Slock is going to really have to blow up not to win this, at this stage?

13km to go: Slock pounds on alone, alongside a neutral service car or two. The gap is still 1min 14sec! He is stronger than a lot of the sprinters’ teams thought.

14km to go: NSN have joined the chase, working for Biniam Girmay.

There is a long line of Alpecin-Premier Tech riders prominent, with Soudal-Quick Step there too. As you’d expect.

15km to go: Slock takes a bottle. The gap is 1min 16sec. He is looking very, very good.

16km to go: Blythe says Lidl-Trek aren’t interested in chasing, because a Slock win doesn’t hurt Pedersen’s green jersey hopes … Equally Decathlon CMA CGM, whose priority is Paul Seixas, don’t have massive motivation to chase.

17km to go: “I’m confused why these sprint teams aren’t putting more riders up to chase,” says Blythe.

After winning yesterday, Merlier made a very pointed comment about his perception that only Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal-Quick Step had worked to control the break. Is the same happening today?

19km to go: Slock, the lone leader, is followed closely by a race commissaires’ car and a phalanx of motorbikes. What a win this would be for Lotto–Intermarché!

20km to go: Slock powers on alone. He’s riding smoothly, maybe losing a little bit of form due to the inevitable tiredness. The gap isn’t moving, in fact, it’s grown slightly to 1min 24sec.

22km to go: “The gap at the moment is not really budging,” says Rob Hatch.

“We’ll see at 10km to go what the gap is,” says Kelly. “Slock will start feeling the effects, other teams will start panicking. The real test will come in the next 10km.”

24km to go: As they pursue the escapees, the bunch is strung out. Otruba is about to be caught. Therefore, it’s about to be one escapee, and realistically, he’s not going to make it.

24km to go: The gap between Slock and bunch is 1min 22sec. I’m going to say he’s got a live chance here. My Velogames rivals are running scared.

28km to go: Adam Blythe, on commentary, thinks Kooij will win today. He adds that the peloton may have given Slock a little bit too much room, based on the current situation.

29km to go: “It will be super-fast,” Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) said earlier, of today’s sprint finish. “We need to be in front there.”

And what of his Tour de France debut?

“So far we are enjoying it. Good results so far, everyone’s feeling good, we’re just looking forward to every day of racing.”

32km to go: Slock has looked extremely strong, though, so you never know …

He has 27sec on Otruba now and is riding strongly.

34km to go: Slock’s lone attack is surely doomed? But you have to be in it to win it. He’s bought a ticket for the lottery, and other assorted cliches, can be applied.

36km to go: Slock is out front alone. He has 13sec on Otruba. Guernalec is another 24sec back. The peloton is 1min 34sec off the pace of Slock …

37km to go: A dangerous group containing riders from EF Education and Uno X-Mobility briefly gapped the bunch on the climb. But it was all shut down swiftly.

39.5km to go: A timely mention by commentator, Rob Hatch, for Ramunas Navardauskas, who won in Bergerac in 2014. Navardauskas is a helluva bike rider and a lovely guy too.

40km to go: This climb is 2.2km long with an average 5.3% gradient.

Back down the road, EF Education have attacked! A large group has broken away from the main bunch …

41km to go: The break has splintered on the Côte du Buisson-de-Cadouin. Otruba leads the way, Slock on his wheel, Guernalec dropped.

43km to go: Regarding today’s finish in Bergerac: there is a big right-hand turn with 500m to go. There is certain to be a huge fight for position before that.

44km to go: The Côte du Buisson-de-Cadouin, the second category-four climb of the day, is imminent.

47km to go: It’s good to see Grana Padano cheese being heavily advertised during TNT Sport’s Tour coverage. But who will be the big cheese among the sprinters in Bergerac later?

53km to go: Pedersen went early for the intermediate. Very early. Philipsen and Kanter duly punished him.

Good signs for Philipsen’s legs for the final sprint today, but then again, Merlier wasn’t interested in properly going for it.

56km to go: A photo-finish between Pedersen, Kanter, Philipsen for the next-best at the intermediate.

In fact, it’s not that close: Philipsen takes fourth, Kanter fifth, Pedersen sixth.

Pedersen remonstrates with Kanter after the cross the line, presumably feeling he got too close in the sprint.

57km to go: Slock looks like he’s got the intermediate sprint won, going for it early. But Otruba, cannily, comes over the top of him and takes it at the last.

58 km to go: In yet more “The Dordogne is picturesque” news:

62km to go: Will the breakaway riders sprint for the intermediate? We’re about to find out.

A reminder that the three-man break consists of:

Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché
Jakub Otruba (Caja-Rural)
Thibaut Guernalec (TotalEnergies)

65km to go: Some cracking shots coming through of the action on the Côte de Domme.

67km to go: The gap is holding at 2min. There will be 14pts on offer to the fourth rider over the line at the intermediate sprint, at Saint-Cyprien.

68km to go: Not far until the intermediate sprint. The break will mop up the first three places, then the sprinters and green-jersey hopefuls behind will fight for fourth place.

73km to go: On the subject of trips to visit the Tour, I’ve just booked three nights in the vicinity of Alpe d’Huez for stages 19 and 20 with my friend Vaidas, of VG Cycles in Honor Oak, SE London. A big shout out to Vaidas and all his customers/fellow riders/friends/WhatsApp group members.

78km to go: Hundreds of fans line the narrow climb, the Côte de Domme. Looks like a great atmosphere, as stated by Dan earlier, who is at the roadside and sent us a pic. Slock wins the race to the top, and takes a KOM point.

80km to go: The word ‘smorgasbord’ did enter my mind earlier, when contemplating the amount of sport that’s on today.

Anyway, an interview with Mads Pedersen now, the points classification leader. Seb Piquet inquires: How do you win the green jersey?

“Having the most amount of points when you reach Paris,” he deadpans in reply. “It’s the same as it was in the past … a different scoring system but it’s all about having the most points.”

Is it about getting in breaks, winning intermediates, and/or stage wins?

“I think you can do both,” Pedersen says. “It’s definitely being in breaks, then minimising the losses on stages like yesterday and today. It could also be a pure sprinter [that wins green] … but it looks like now, there are so many good sprinters, they will share the winning – that’s ideal for a guy like me who wants to win the green jersey.”

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.

“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?

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 …

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, Olav 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) Olav 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.