Tour de France - Stage 8 Predictions & Betting tips - International

Prediction published on 10/07/2026, 13:15  by Matthew Newman | Modified on 10/07/2026 at 14:48

It’s another sprinters stage on Saturday in the Tour de France as the peloton head from Perigeaux to Bergerac. There are just a couple of small Category Four climbs to go over which should be no issues for the sprinters like Tim Merlier to overcome, as the Belgian rider looks to go back-to-back.

Stage 7 was Tim Merlier first, the rest nowhere, as he dominated the sprint finish into Bordeaux. Despite the leadout train of Soudal Quick-Step taking a hit from the loss of Bert Van Lerberghe, Merlier proved far too strong for his rivals. 

A couple of the big sprinters had been out of positon on Stage 5 when Olav Kooij won. He was the one to find himself out of positon as the pace picked up on Stage 7, so his final positon of 23rd is one to ignore. He is still an excellent sprinter. 

Jasper Philipsen continues to disappoint as the Alpecin team looked to have timed things to perfection for him to take Stage 7. A strong leadout consisting of five men ahead of him took him to the front inside the last 300m but he was not strong enough to hold on.

Another team who produced a great train was Astana for Max Kanter. He could only finish fourth, with Binian Girmay in third and both of them should be in and around the places once more.