​On July 5, Stage 2 of the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma | Lease a Bike wore the Yellow jersey as the riders prepared to start the stage. The photograph captures Vingegaard at the start, exuding the commanding presence of the race leader. In the same eventful week of racing, Tim Merlier secured another stage victory, crossing the finish line first in Stage 8 with a blistering sprint that left rivals chasing in his wake. Biniam Girmay finished just behind Merlier in second place, while Olav Kooij claimed third on the 180.4-kilometer flat route from Périgueux to Bergerac.
Merlier’s final surge came with roughly 450 meters to go, when he elevated his pace to extraordinary speed and methodically reeled in riders who had led the bunch for much of the day. “I needed to fight for position all the time until the last minute,” he explained after the sprint. He described being boxed in just before the final corner and encountering a near-crash that briefly disrupted the lead-out. “Then they almost crashed. I thought it was almost over, but I gave it a try to come back on the lead out. I was coming with so much speed; I saw it was 250 to go, so I said, ‘we give it a try and we’ll see.’ At 50 meters I couldn’t push any more.” Merlier’s fearless final push paid off as he surged to the front and clinched the win.
Tadej Pogačar, a four-time Tour de France winner, continued to hold the overall lead and retain the yellow jersey, with the top 18 riders maintaining their positions from Stage 7. The 2026 Tour de France schedule continues to unfold with anticipation as the race progresses toward new challenges and renewed ambitions.
Here is the current leaderboard after Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour de France. The results reflect the official times listed by the Tour de France site for the 180.4-kilometer Stage 8 from Périgueux to Bergerac, dated Saturday, July 11. Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step finished first with a time of 3:52:50. Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling Team placed second, 0:00 behind Merlier, followed by Olav Kooij of Decathlon CMA CGM Team in third, also within the same sprint finish. Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin–Premier Tech and Pavel Bittner of Team Picnic PostNL completed the top six, with the rest of the early order including Rick Pluimers, Pascal Ackermann, Clément Russo, Max Kanter, and Milan Fretin in the top ten.
In the general classification, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) held the race lead, with Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in second place, narrowly behind by 2 minutes and 42 seconds. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) sat 3 minutes and 27 seconds off the pace for third overall, followed by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) at 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and Juan Ayuso (Lidl – Trek) at 3 minutes and 34 seconds. The early top ten were rounded out by Paul Seixas, Florian Lipowitz, Lenny Martinez, Mattias Skjelmose, and Mathias Vacek, all within a few minutes of the leader.
Looking ahead, the Tour de France’s 2026 schedule continued with Stage 9 taking riders from Malemort to Ussel, a distance of 185.5 kilometers featuring hilly terrain that would test climbers and sprinters alike. Coverage began at 6:30 a.m. ET, with Peacock providing streaming access to fans eager to follow the action live. The race’s ongoing narrative—yellow jersey battles, sprint finishes, and evolving GC standings—kept cycling enthusiasts engaged as the event moved through its later stages. This article, originally reported by USA TODAY, highlighted Tim Merlier’s Stage 8 victory as a notable repeat success and underscored the continuing competition among elite cyclists at the 2026 Tour de France.