Jonas Vingegaard remains 2:42 behind Tadej Pogacar at the 2026 Tour de France after Team Visma | Lease a Bike deliberately moved its leader away from the chaotic sprint battle in Bergerac. With consecutive flat stages completed, Vingegaard remains Pogacars nearest challenger before the race turns b...

Saturday was one of those stultifying days at the Tour de France where the energy appeared to have been sucked out of the race. Stage eight was designed as a bunch sprint day, with just two category-four climbs on the route, and for most of the day it was ridden as such, with just three riders up the road at a controlled distance, the interested teams at the front, and the inevitable on its way in Bergerac.It would be hard to blame the peloton, given this was their eighth day in a row of racing in a heatwave, and there are much harder tests to come, including tomorrow's stage nine in the Massif Central, shortened due to "exceptionally intense" heat. A rolling rest day, as much as possible, is to be forgiven.However, no one had told Liam Slock. The Lotto-Intermarch rider, probably best known up to this point as the rider who crashed while celebrating his victory at last month's GP Gippingen, refused to bow to the received wisdom that this should be a sprint. It wasn't the first time a Lotto rider has done something like this at the Tour, with Baptiste Veistroffer the king of the doomed escape so far.With 40km to go, the Belgian detached what was left of the break, with apologies to Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies) and Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who are bit-part players in this story now, and charged on alone. The gap, which was never significant, stubbornly refused to come down, as Slock attacked with zeal in the Dordogne. "Actually, I wasn't supposed to go in the break, but I saw the chance and the opportunity to go and I went," he told Cycling Weekly post-race. "Then on top of the climb, I felt I was the strongest of the breakaway, and I went alone. You never know. If you don't shoot, you always miss." With 13km to go, the gap was still at 1:15. Slock still believed, and something had enlivened the otherwise slow day in the middle of France. However, something had to give. The 25-year-old had been pushing 400 watts ever since being alone, 30km previously, and the might of the desperate peloton was closing behind, with each rider being screamed at by their respective directeur sportif to put it all on the line."In the last 10km, I started hurting a lot and I lost a bit of time," Slock continued. "It was a little bit uphill, a little bit of headwind. From there on, it was becoming clear that it was really hard, but in the end I came really close."(Image credit: Getty Images)You might already know how this story ends; Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) came from nowhere to sprint to victory, other sprinters disappointed, Slock nowhere to be seen. The Belgian was caught with 1.3km to go, his lonely vigil ended, his attempt to bring some life to a flat stage ruined.In hindsight, it might seem like a fait accompli that Slock would be caught, that it would end in a bunch sprint; this was what it was designed for, and this is what it was. However, he believed that he had a chance, even for a moment: I did believe it was possible, because from 30 to 15km to the end, they didn't come that much close, so I was thinking it was possible.The man from Ghent will always have this, whatever else he does: the day he almost held off the Tour peloton. Just coming this close to winning a Tour de France stage was a dream since I was a kid, so I am disappointed but I think I'll be proud this evening, he said.Now, heres no time for celebration. It will be remembered by him, and by others, as a brave move, one which almost turned convention upside down. Whats the plan for tonight? The same way as every evening, eating and laying on the bed.If you don't shoot you always miss. No one could blame Slock for not shooting. Perhaps next time, it will go in, rather than agonisingly grazing off the crossbar. Thanks, Liam, for enlivening a dull day.

Tadej Pogacar has warned that the extreme heat is tiring the Tour de France peloton even during its easier stages, with constant cooling, hydration and nutrition required to limit the damage. The yellow jersey spoke after safely completing Stage 8 in Bergerac. Shortly afterwards, the Tour cut 30 kil...

Alpecin-Premier Techs team bosses have urged patience after their sprinter Jasper Philipsen fell short of victory again at the Tour de France on Saturday. The Belgian, a 10-time stage winner across his seven race starts, placed fourth in Bergerac on day eight, won by Soudal Quick-Steps Tim Merlier. The result followed two fifth places in bunch sprints for Philipsen, on stages five and seven, which left him perplexed by the lack of his usual top speed. Speaking outside the Alpecin-Premier Tech bus in Bergerac, the teams manager Philip Roodhooft said it was way too early to draw conclusions about Philipsens form. We have no doubts about the preparation, he said. We have no doubts about the potential. Everyone has seen that the team and the lead-outs are more than strong enough to bring him where he has to be. Were still very confident that it will lead to Jasper winning a stage.Guided to the line by his team-mate Mathieu van der Poel, Philipsen launched his sprint inside 200m to go on Saturday, by which time Merlier had already gathered his race-winning pace from behind. Asked about the lead-out, Alpecins head sports director Christoph Roodhoft, Philips brother, said the team cannot do it better. Yesterday [Jasper] was maybe a bit too early, today he was maybe a bit too late. Maybe next time we will do it right on time, Christoph said. It is not completely missed opportunities. We had chances, and we did not win, but thats not the only thing. Its not that easy to win on this level, lets say. Sometimes it seems like that, but when it doesnt work out immediately, then you realise this is a hell of a job. Alpecin-Premier Tech were one of the most successful squads at last year's Tour, winning three stages, including on the opening day in Lille thanks to Philipsen. The team also enjoyed five days in the yellow jersey, split between Philipsen and Van der Poel. Their fortunes, its clear, are not the same this time round. But as Christoph stressed, the team has had to be patient for success in the past. Two years ago we had to wait until stage 10 [for a stage win]. Were only at eight today, so even if it doesnt happen then, we can only try, he said. Philip shared the same feeling. Obviously its not what we hoped, but we remain confident, he said. Its clear that wed have liked it to be different at this point but that doesnt change anything and the fact that the Tour de France is for three weeks, and there will be other occasions. Let it also be clear that we werent expecting to win all the sprints. We still have a lot of confidence that we as a team, and Jasper as the finisher, will be able to win sprints.Philipsen did not address the media on returning to his team bus after stage eight. A team press officer said he would not speak as he had to leave to carry out a routine anti-doping test.

At the Tour de France, the racing does not always end at the finish line. Sprint deviations, sticky bottles, feeding breaches, littering fines, time penalties, yellow cards and relegations can all become part of the daily story, especially in a race where every stage result and jersey position is wa...

Tim Merlier claimed victory in stage eight of the Tour de France. The Soudal Quick-Step fast man proved the quickest in the bunch sprint once again, repeating his success from stage seven. Biniam Girmay (NSN) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) came closest but were unable to deny the Belgian a secon...