July 11, 2026
It's a double dose of sprint action as the race stays in Nouvelle-Aquitaine for what should be another bunch sprint finish in Bergerac. The first 100 km are quite flat with almost nothing of note to worry anyone in the peloton. The bunch will head East towards Montignac-Lascaux, home of some of the finest cave paintings ever found, dating back over 17,000 years. The race will turn South to follow the Vézère river before veering off to visit Sarlat-la-Canéda on the way to Domme and the Dordogne river. Once in Domme, the riders will tackle the Côte de Domme and then turn back to the West to following the Dordogne downstream all the way to the finish in Bergerac. Along the way there is an intermediate sprint in Saint Cyprien with 58 km to go and the Côte du Buisson-de-Caudouin which is 3 km at 4%. The top comes 40 km from the finish which will be plenty of time for the sprinters to regroup and prepare for another chance at victory. There are three 90 degree corners in the last 1,500 meters with the last coming just 500 from the line in the Plaine de jeux Picquecailloux.
Race Summary
Another blistering day was set for the riders as they meandered through the neutral to KM0. The start was a bit more active than other sprint days with more teams interested in going up the road. TotalEnergies tried a few times but the one who caught the attention of the sprint teams was Kasper Asgreen of EF-Education EasyPost. The Dane went twice but was marked straight away by both Soudal Quickstep and Alpecin-Premier Tech who didn't want a big engine to chase all day. In the end, Liam Slock of Lotto Intermarché got away with Jakub Otruba of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Thibault Guernalec of TotalEnergies. It didn't take long before Soudal Quickstep and Alpecin-Premier Tech started to ride and they kept the gap between 90 seconds and 2 minutes.
The next few hours were a holding pattern through the beautiful country side of the Dordogne. Numerous châteaux dotted the landscape with manicured gardens surrounded by green rolling hills and trickling books and streams. Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Premier Tech and Pascal Eenkhoorn of Soudal Quickstep did all of the work in the peloton to control the race and had the break at 1 minute 25 seconds. With 81 km to go, NSN Cycling put George Bennett on the front although it really was not necessary because the gap was holding firm at 1 minute 25 seconds.
With 78 km to go, Slock attacked for the solitary point at the top of the Côte de Domme. He was first through the narrow gate of the picturesque fortified town and carried his speed to the top to take the prize. The helicopter shots of Domme were spectacular with the village perched high on the hillside with commanding views up the Dordogne river valley. Out of Domme, the peloton continued down the river through the villages of La Roque-Gageac and Beynac-et-Cazenac with the most amazing views of the cliffs with chateaux situated precariously on the edge.
Coming into the intermediate sprint with 58 km to go, Otruba was leading but Slock jumped early and quickly took the front. The road dragged a little and Otruba was able to get in the slip stream and come around Slock right on the line and take the sprint with a well timed bike throw. Behind, the peloton was bubbling and ready to go for the points left on offer. Like in previous days, XDS-Astana committed the most resources to the train and had two men in front of Max Kanter with Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek, Anthony Turgis ot TotalEnergies, Tim Merlier of Soudal Quickstep, Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling, and Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech on his wheel. Pedersen went early and boxed Kanter in on his own teammate. Kanter got himself unstuck and came around Pedersen but it was Philipsen who made a nice run late from a poor position to snag maximum points for fourth.
The last real point of interest on course was the Côte du Buisson-de-Caudouin which the break arrived at with a 1 minute 50 second advantage. Otruba went early with 1,500 meters to climb but Slock was able to claw his way up to the wheel. Slock waited until 350 meters from the top before he hit Otruba and went clear for the KOM point. It was all action behind in the peloton as well with EF-Education EasyPost lighting up the climb. Kasper Asgreen was at it again and went full, causing a split about 20 riders down the group. Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility went over the top of Asgreen but more riders had joined by the top and around 40 riders crested together. The rest of the peloton rejoined on the descent but it certainly got the heart rate running and primed for the finale.
Neither Otruba or Guernalec were able to bridge back up to Slock who still looked focused and strong. With 23 km to go, Slock had 1 minute 20 seconds but there were new riders and fresh legs from NSN Cycling and Alpecin-Premier Tech at the front of the peloton. With 15 km to go, there wasn't panic but there was some concern because Slock had only lost 2 or 3 seconds and there was a slight tailwind aiding the Belgian attacker. 1 minute 5 seconds was the gap through 10 km to go while many of the sprint teams were sitting back and waiting for someone else to do the work. It was still Alpecin-Premier Tech and Soudal Quickstep working but other teams were starting to mass together in preparation for the lead out. XDS-Astana had enough of the waiting and they came forward just inside 6 km from the finish and had Slock at 30 seconds 1 km later.
Slock crossed the Dordogne river for the last time with 3 km to go and entered the streets of Bergerac with 15 seconds with XDS-Astana still doing the damage. A big rush forward from Cofidis, Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Bahrain Victorious cut the gap to nothing and Slock was caught 1,300 meters from the line. The lead outs were in complete disarray with no sprinter having more than a single teammate to push the wind. Soudal Quickstep took the front through the penultimate corner at 1,200 meters with Jasper Stuyven but there was a bit of a nervous stand off out of the corner with no one willing to pull. The final XDS-Astana lead out man picked up the speed and guided Kanter through the last corner with Mathieu van der Poel shepparding Philipsen just behind and Olav Kooij of Decathlon CMA CGM sitting on Philipsen's wheel. Van der Poel took charge and sprinted to 200 meters to go but Philipsen wasn't able to sprint immediately because Kooij had jumped early. Out of absolutely nowhere, Merlier appeared beside Kooij and blew passed the Dutchman with 100 meters to go, stomping his way to the line to make it two wins in a row. Girmay had followed Merlier through the tangle to come home for second place just ahead of Kooij and a dejected Philipsen. Merlier had started his sprint at around 400 meters from the line to make up for his poor position and just carried the speed passed riders in what was a remarkable and memorable performance.