Key events
168km to go: The average speed, it says here, is 43km/h. That’s not comically slow for us normal human beings.
171km to go: The two-man breakaway are travelling almost comically slowly. The bunch wants an easy day, at least to start with, and it looks like they are going to get it. Veistroffer peers over at the camera and smiles. I think the peloton is basically stationary at this point. Tom Pidcock waves at the camera and smiles.
172km to go: Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto–Intermarché) is off up the road again. Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural) is with him. They have 30sec already, having been allowed to ease away from the peloton.
Racing on stage seven
A serene start …
There are six stages categorised as “flat” on the official route guide. Stage 21 in Paris may not quite count for the pure sprinters because of the three ascents of the Côte de la Butte Montmartre towards the end … long story short, the sprinters’ teams cannot afford to mess this up today. If a breakaway was allowed to succeed, the atmosphere would be frosty at dinner tonight for those teams.
Here we go then. The riders are out on the road and have another 3.5km or so until the flag drops. We should see a very decent scrap to form the breakaway.
TNT Sports are broadcasting live from the Rapha cafe in central London today. The presenter, Orla Chennaoui, asked the assembled fans if they are enjoying Pogacar’s dominance: the response was mixed. What do you reckon? Mail me.
Have a read of Jeremy Whittle’s stage six report, after one of the most dominant performances we’ve ever seen from Tadej Pogacar:
William Fotheringham
Stage seven, Friday 10 July: Hagetmau to Bordeaux, 175.1km
In the past, Bordeaux was a hugely prestigious stage for the sprinters, on a par with the Champs Élysées; the roll of honour includes Mark Cavendish, Freddy Maertens, Erik Zabel, Rik van Looy and André Darrigade. That history of 82 stage finishes has acquired more meaning since the Paris finale has been jazzed up with the addition of the Montmartre climb: with the Champs no longer a guaranteed bunch gallop, the finish on the banks of the Garonne will be the most prized sprint this year. Philipsen won here in 2023, pipping Cavendish, and he will be odds-on to do it again.
Points classification: top 10 before stage seven
1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek): 168 points
2. Max Kanter (XDS Astana): 93
3. Biniam Girmay (NSN): 91
4. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech): 86
5. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 75
6. Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team): 70
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike): 61
8. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step): 55
9. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 54
10. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek): 53
General classification: top 10 before stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), at 2 mins 42secs
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), at 3 mins 27secs
4. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) at 3mins 30secs
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) at 3mins 34secs
6. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) at 3mins 55secs
7. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) at 4mins 00secs
8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) at 4mins 21secs
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) at 4mins 57ses
10. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) at 7mins 10secs
The temperature in Bordeaux is forecast to peak at 36C today, although it’ll be hotter than that out on the road.
The neutralised start is scheduled for half an hour’s time: 12.15 BST/13.15 CET.
So, what is the vibe for stage seven, from Hagetmau to Bordeaux? It’s 175.1km trip through some famous wine country, with one categorised climb, the Côte de Béguey, a category-four, cresting after 137.3km. (A massive 84m of climbing there and 850m in total – quite a difference to yesterday’s punishing Pyrenean parcours.)
The intermediate sprint comes a while before that, after 120.2km, at Landiras – which begs the question of how much effort a team like Lidl-Trek will put in trying to control things beforehand so their man Pedersen can go for the 25 points on offer.
And that is basically that. As per usual for a finish in a city, the final looks quite technical, with a few roundabouts to negotiate before a big left-hander to cross a bridge over La Garonne, before a final blast along the river to the finish.
Preamble
You could say this Tour de France was about two questions for most of the peloton: How do we deal with the extreme heat, and how does anyone beat Tadej Pogacar?
The second question was emphatically answered on the Tourmalet yesterday, at least in the sense that no one is capable of remotely threatening the dominant Slovenian in the GC. His astonishingly powerful attack left Jonas Vingegaard, and everyone else, fighting for second place.
If the relentless, seemingly ever-improving Pogacar stays upright and free of injury and illness, a fifth Tour title is nailed on. Vingegaard and co are again left to wonder how he does it, in this modern era of hyper-marginal gains.
That leaves us with other points of interest, perhaps most notably the battle for the green jersey. Today’s flat stage to Bordeaux is a second chance for the pure sprinters: Debutant Olaj Kooij capitalised on a reduced bunch gallop to score a first Tour stage win on stage five, while a resurgent Mads Pedersen sped to victory from the break on stage four in 40C heat.
The sprinters’ teams will be determined to control and set it up for the likes of Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier, while Pedersen will doubtless be aiming to further his tilt at the green jersey.
Neutralised start: 1.15pm CET/12.15pm BST
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/jul/10/tour-de-france-2026-stage-seven-updates-hagetmau-to-bordeaux-cycling-live
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