Tour de France Stage 8 Preview: Merlier, Philipsen and Girmay to all have a say in Bergerac

One sprint finish leads to another in the Tour de France as Saturday’s Stage 8 between Perigueux and Bergerac promises a second straight battle of the finishers (live from 12pm BST on TNT Sports 1, highlights from 7pm on Channel 5).

Having talked myself out of a 125/1 each-way pick of Soren Waerenskjold yesterday to then watch him push Tim Merlier close for the victory, my Tour de France Stage 8 predictions will not include any second-guessing of the gut feeling.

Tour de France Betting Odds

You won’t get much for backing Merlier after his commanding victory on Friday in Bordeaux. Indeed, the best bet is to find him among Betfred’s specials.

It’s 4/7 for Merlier, Olav Kooij and Jasper Philipsen to all finish within the top 10, while a straight forecast of Merlier and Kooij is 11/4, and a Merlier-Philpsen 1-2 is a 9/2 bet.

Kooij is 3/1 for the stage win, Philipsen 5/1 and Biniam Girmay 8/1.

Cycling Odds

The 180.4km route has been hand-picked to provide a flat proposition in which the sprint teams can absolutely boss the day’s events.

The two Cat 4 climbs involved are nothing to write home about, with the 3.7km Cote de Domme taking the riders up at an average 3.3% gradient then the 2.2km Cote du Buisson-de-Cadouin rising at 5.6%.

The latter of those peaks 40km from the end of the stage, leaving nothing but flat, wide roads for the peloton to negotiate. That will give the sprint trains ample time to get themselves in order.

Tim Merlier & Jasper Philipsen Both to Finish Top 3 @ 15/8

How Philipsen and his Alcepin-Premier Tech teammates didn’t get the job done on Friday is anyone’s guess.

For the final couple of kilometres they seemed perfectly positioned, setting up the ideal leadout for Philipsen. Yet when Mathieu van der Poel peeled away, Jasper just couldn’t kick on and leave the competition behind.

He simply has to be in the reckoning this time around, although Merlier showed again on Friday why he’s considered the world’s premier sprinter right now.

These two ought to be the 1-2 in some order, so the 15/8 about them both ending in the top three is more than enticing.

Biniam Girmay EW @ 8/1 

Yes, I’m still kicking myself about that near-miss with Waerenskjold, and there’s no surprise that the traders at Betfred have pulled the Uno-X Mobility rider into 22/1 for Saturday’s stage having gone off at 125/1 24 hours earlier.

With the wide roads heading into Bergerac, though, I believe that it won’t just be Alpecin-Premier Tech getting their leadout right this time. As such, I expect the like of Girmay, Pedersen and Merlier to find a lot more of their teammates around them in the final couple of kilometres.

And I like what I see in Girmay, so that little bit of extra support could help him get a top-three spot.