Soren Waerenskjold won the fastest ever stage of the Tour de France with a long-range sprint in Nevers. The Norwegian followed an early move from Cees Bol inside the last few hundred metres of stage 11, getting several bike lengths ahead of the chasing pack and holding off the charge of Olav Kooij to claim his first career Tour win as Tadej Pogacar stayed safe in the yellow jersey.
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On a fast and furious stage of the Tour de France, where the racing belied the hot conditions and challenging parkour, Tadej Pogačar showed his dominance on the final category 1 climb, taking a commanding lead and getting revenge for his loss to Jonas Vingegaard in Le Lioran two years ago. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) was seen to be suffering big time on the final climb, fighting for his GC position, but he pulled off an miraculous recovery to launch the sprint for second place, which he won.
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Mathieu van der Poel won an enthralling ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, sprinting to the line after a chaotic day in the Massif Central. The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider had been part of a huge breakaway which eventually formed after 60km of aggressive racing in the boiling centre of France. Only four of the group survived to compete for the win, with Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) taking second place, while Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) was third.
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Tim Merlier has won his second consecutive sprint stage, coming from the back of the bunch to assert his claim on the green jersey. As the peloton turned the final corner onto the finish, the Soudal Quick-Step rider was so far behind —edged out on the corner— that he barely appeared in the television shots. Mathieu van der Poel started his final lead-out for teammate Jasper Philipsen, stringing the group out. Merlier was forced to launch early, riding the slipstream and hopping forward, rider by rider.
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Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) kept up his winning record at the Tour de France with a magnificent sprint to take a deserved victory in Stage 7 on the banks of the Garonne in Bordeaux. Merlier recovered from being boxed in on the home straight to power through the gaps and launch from the slipstream of Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), the Norwegian settling for second place ahead of Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team).
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