​Opportunities for sprinters at the start of the 2026 Tour de France had been limited so far. Stage 8 between Périgueux and Bergerac offered another opportunity, which the sprinters’ teams were ultimately not about to let slip. After 180 kilometres, Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) secured his second stage win in a row – The Belgian had already won in Bordeaux the day before. Merlier thus followed in the footsteps of Marcel Kittel, who won the final stage in Bergerac in 2017. Biniam Girmay (NSN) finished second ahead of Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM).

Max Kanter finishes in the top ten, Ackermann best German

Initially, XDS-Astana worked hard to secure a promising position for Max Kanter. With a lead-out rider in front of him, Kanter went into the final bend in the lead, 640 metres from the finish. But then Alpecin-Premier Tech, with Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen, overtook the Astana duo, leaving Kanter to battle it out with Kooij for a place on Philipsen’s rear wheel, where he was briefly boxed in. This cost the German a better result than ninth place. The best-placed German rider this time was Pascal Ackermann (Jayco-AlUla) in seventh place.

Meanwhile, Merlier came up from behind over the final 400 metres and, with significantly greater speed, surged past the competition. Philipsen, on the other hand, was unable to capitalise on his good starting position, as he once again lacked the power. In Merlier’s slipstream, Girmay eventually took second place.

​The heatwave continued to affect the riders on this day too, with temperatures reaching 37 degrees in central France. Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché) also gave the sprinters’ teams a run for their money. The Belgian kept the peloton at bay for a long time as the last rider in the breakaway – even though the stage was not particularly selective, featuring just two Category 4 climbs. It was only shortly before the Flamme Rouge that Slock’s breakaway came to an end.

​The jerseys for the 2026 Tour de France

​There were no changes to the top positions in the general classification. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) remains at the top, 2 minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingagaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). Third place is held by Pogacar’s team-mate Isaac del Toro, who trails by 3:27 minutes. The Mexican continues to wear the white jersey as the best young rider. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) follows in seventh place, four minutes behind.

In the points classification, Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek, 228 points) retained the lead, but is now only 15 points ahead of Merler (213). He leads the mountains classification.

​​Tour de France 2026 – Results of Stage 8

Here’s how Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour de France went

​The chances of a stage win were slim from the outset. Consequently, the day’s breakaway group formed quickly and without a fight, comprising Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarche), Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies). In the peloton, however, the sprinters’ teams allowed the trio to pull away by a maximum of two minutes.

At the first of two mountain classifications, Slock secured a mountain point 78 kilometres from the finish on the Côte de Domme (Category 4). Shortly afterwards, he also won the intermediate sprint in Saint-Cyprien. From the peloton, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) took fourth to sixth places.

Slock, as the last rider in the breakaway, battles against the peloton for a long time

On the Côte du Buisson-de-Cadouin (4th category), 40 kilometres from the finish, Otruba was the first to break away from the leading group, but was quickly caught by Slock. Slock shook off Otruba and won the mountain classification. Slock then continued his breakaway alone – at that point, he still had a lead of 1 minute 30 seconds.

And as a result, the Belgian lost hardly any time – even though NSN, Alpecin – Premier Tech and Soudal – Quick-Step were all trying to catch him in the peloton. With ten kilometres to go, Slock’s lead still stood at 1 minute 10 seconds. However, as the sprint teams stepped up their efforts, his lead began to dwindle. A headwind in the final stretch further hampered his breakaway. With 1.3 kilometres to go, his attempt came to an end.