It was a vintage performance for 33-year-old Tim Merlier, who won Stage 7 at the Tour de France on Friday as he burst from the pack near the finish line at Bordeaux, France.

A native of Belgium, Merlier won his fourth career stage in his third appearance at the Tour de France. It was the 24th stage victory all time by a Belgian rider in Bordeaux.

Merlier was clear by a full bike length at the finish ahead of Soren Waerenskjold of Norway and Binian Girmay of Eritrea in the sprint finish, while Max Kanter of Germany finished fourth and 10-time stage winner Jasper Philipsen of Belgium was fifth.

Despite Merlier’s victory in the sprint, Mads Pedersen of Denmark remained in the green jersey to mark the overall sprint leader through the first week of the three-week grand tour race. Pedersen finished ninth in Stage 7 after winning Stage 4 on Tuesday.

Philipsen’s Alpecin-Premier Tech team was well organized into the final kilometer as Stage 7 finished along the Garonne River. Philipsen was near the front with 500 meters to go then charged into the lead at the 200-meter mark but was tracked down quickly by Merlier, his former teammate.

The bunch finish in the sprint stage meant that there was no change in the overall lead.

Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia remained in the overall leader’s yellow jersey, with rival Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark in second, 2 minutes, 42 seconds off the pace. Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico is in third place, followed by Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and Juan Ayuso of Spain.

Just behind the top five is 19-year-old French rider Paul Seixas, who is the youngest competitor in the field.

Saturday’s Stage 8 will be another flat route for the sprinters with the 180.4 kilometer course extending from Perigueux to Bergerac.

–Field Level Media