3 hours ago
10
Key events
70km to go: Merlier has three stages in the Tour to his name. Philipsen has 10. Is it between those two for the stage today, all else being equal? Will Olav Kooij and Decathlon-CMA CGM have a say?
Renshaw said earlier that Decathlon-CMA CGM have different objectives at this race – GC for Paul Seixas and stages for Kooij – and as a result, they don’t have a full lead-out train here. Given the quality of his team, Philipsen is surely favourite.
72km to go: We have another 17km of racing before the intermediate sprint.
So it seems the bunch will fight for third place across the line, with the breakaway mopping up the first two places.
74km to go: “A fast one,” Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step says, asked what the final sprint will be like in Bordeaux today.
“Also there is a not a lot of space. Position-wise it’ll be really important, I think.
“Like I said, not a lot of space. The sprint will be really fast. You need to be there.”
Apparently, Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) said he is motivated to win for his daughter. What about Merlier?
“My motivation is … I want to win another stage in the Tour de France.”
haha! Brilliant, that. Thanks Tim.
78km to go: The TV helicopter treats us to a lingering shot of some castle or other.
Unfortunately I don’t have the official Tour de France local info guide to read out, a la Paul Sherwen in the glory days of C4/ITV coverage.
80km to go: “They’re riding really strong,” says Sean Kelly of the two-man break. “But the peloton could give them more like two, two-and-a-half minutes, because they’re going to start feeling the effects in the final 40, 50km … the riders will like this, you don’t have to put much effort in to follow the wheels … whereas if you really go slow, it can be more difficult.”
81km to go: We’ve just broken through the 1,000km mark for this Tour de France.
A mere 2,321.2km until the finish line in Paris.
83km to go: With Otruba in the Tour de France breakaway again, and an all-Czech final in the women’s singles at Wimbledon – what a week it’s shaping up to be for Czech sport.
87km to go: Czech this out, stolen from the official TdF feed:
“Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), part of the breakaway, is one of three Czech riders in the Tour de France 2026, alongside Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL). This brings the total number of Czech riders to have taken part in the race to 17.
“The roots of Czech cycling lie in the illustrious history of the Peace Race. An international event in the second half of the 20th century, it produced champions, starting with the iconic Jan Vesely, and paved the way for a ‘little sister’ event, the Junior Peace Race, which today attracts the stars of tomorrow.”
And who could forget Zdenek Stybar? He was decent.
91km to go: The gap is out to 1min 30sec after a few riders in the bunch stopped for a natural break.
Meanwhile, here’s the obligatory Citroën 2CV shot:
And how about the equally obligatory pastel-coloured window shutters shot:
94km to go: In terms of other sport today, we’ve got tennis:
Football, AKA soccer, AKA World Cup:
And a dash of cricket:
95km to go: That all sounds highly plausible as to the wine region(s), I simply searched “Bordeaux wine” for the purposes of that photo.
Meanwhile, the gap is down to 45sec. “It really is cat-and-mouse,” says Hatch on commentary, as the bunch slows up again, not wanting to catch the break just yet.
99km to go: Now, an email entitled: “Saint-Émilion photo, 136km”
“Small correction regarding photo,” writes Matjaz.
“Today’s route is taking Tour de France through the vine region called Entre Deux Mers, Between Two Seas, between rivers Dordogne in the north and Garonne in the south. In fact it is going all the time close to Garonne, the most north village will be Caprai.
“Saint-Émilion is good 50km north from there, just north across Dordogne in completely different region of Bordeaux vine, Libournais. Together with Pomerol they are in fact both just ‘suburbs’ of Libourne.
“But I agree with Jonathan, local vines are excellent, you can get splendid Grand Vin du Bordeaux from Entre Deux Mers for 5-6 euros in shops.”
100km to go: We’re nearly halfway through this line-and-length flat stage. The finale is going to be exciting, I will say that much.
101km to go: An email from Amy entitled: “Send you cake?!”
“Luke, you’re in France. I’m a good baker, to be sure, but anything I send would be stale crumbs by the time it arrived. Revel in the local bounty!”
It’s a very fair point. Thanks Amy. Although our reporter Jeremy Whittle is in France, while I am merely a humble live-blogger in London.
103km to go: The riders in the peloton head through a feed zone.
Up front, Veistroffer and Otruba are riding a bit more seriously now.
On the telly, they are replaying a moment that occurred a few minutes ago, when Uno-X Mobility looked ready to attack, coming past the pacesetters, Alpecin-Premier Tech. Dunno what that’s all about, if I’m honest.
106km to go: “We live down the road so went to catch a glimpse of the Tour,” emails Ger.
“2.5 hrs beforehand we found ourselves 10 metres from the start. Ok it was bloody hot, but we’ve got some incredible photos.
“The whole thing is a brilliant carnival. Cold beer in hand now.”
108km to go: Suddenly, it’s strung out at the front. Equally suddenly, it all seems to calm down, and the bunch comes back together. The gap is 55sec. It’s 50-odd km to the intermediate sprint. Pedersen obviously has good form, and fancies harvesting another 25pts at the intermediate sprint … but anyway, it’s a false alarm in terms of the race becoming more animated.
109km to go: The gap is 48sec. Mads Pedersen attacks in the green jersey!
WE HAVE A RACE!
111km to go: In motorsport news that’s vaguely related to this Tour de France: Last month I covered the Barcelona-Catalunya grand prix, and I stayed in Granollers, north of Barcelona – which is where stage three began. That was the day that spectators were banned from the French part of the route, due to wildfires nearby.
112km to go: The commentators are now talking about motorsport. Now we see a large sponsor’s watch, displaying the temperature, that reads 49C?!! It’s not clear where it is, exactly … but that’s hot.
113km to go: The gap is back under a minute. Careful now …
115km to go: There are some fans in inflatable dinosaur outfits at roadside. What else is there to say?
I’ve had a slice of cake, but I’m thinking I might need another one. While we are on the subject, why doesn’t anyone send us cake, like the listeners do for the Test Match Special commentators?
116km to go: Why not have a bash at our sports quiz of the week?
119km to go: Tom Steels (Soudal Quickstep) was the DS on the radio a while back telling his riders to give the breakaway more time, says the commentator Rob Hatch. Robbie McEwen reckons an easy day now makes the finish in Bordeaux more hectic and more dangerous, with everyone full of beans.
120km to go: The gap is 1min 13sec.
124km to go: “Beautiful city. Good wine,” said Jasper Philipsen before the stage. Wise words.
“The finish is technical, alongside the river, we have to be attentive, and try to be ready in good position.
“We have a strong squad for the lead out. Hopefully we can play to our strengths.”
Mathieu van der Poel is a handy man to have leading you out, and no mistake.
Team Ramses Debruyne, Silvan Dillier, Tim Marsman, Jasper Philipsen, Edward Planckaert, Mathieu van der Poel, Jonas Rickaert, Emiel Verstrynge.
130km to go: Jonathan Harris-Bass is doing a recipe on TNT Sports, so I’m going to nip to the canteen quickly. Hold the fort, please.
131km to go: Renshaw added that Olaf Kooij is confident he can “come over the top of” Tim Merlier in a sprint.
As Renshaw said, hopefully we get a clean sprint between the fastest men in the race later. Something to cling on to look forward to.
132km to go: The sports director Mark Renshaw (Decathlon CMA CGM) is asked about the sprint finish today. “It’s difficult,” he says. “We are juggling two objectives, we don’t have a full leadout train here … to time it right, not get caught too far back, but also not be caught on the front: it’s a fine line … everybody knows this finish well. It’s iconic in the Tour de France. The guys have watched 10 videos of the final. We know what’s going to happen.
“I keep my fingers crossed for a nice, clean sprint … and may the best man win.”
136km to go: Alpecin-Premier Tech continue to set the pace, such as it is, at the front of the bunch. The gap is 1min 17sec. Carlton Kirby is off, talking about his upbringing in the Derbyshire Dales. THen Jonathan Harris-Bass says he likes the local wines (Bordeaux not Derbyshire). Although perhaps needless to say, not necessarily the famous ones – the lesser-known varieties are delicious, he says.
138km to go: TNT Sports had a chat with Mads Pedersen earlier and suggested he had a “picnic” with Victor Campanaerts in the early breakaway yesterday.
“It was a tough picnic,” says Pedersen. “It was hard-earned points yesterday.”
Of today, the points classification leader adds:
“It’s important every day to get as many points as possible. Hopefully, I can keep some of my big contenders behind me in the sprints.”
