Belgian Tim Merlier wins stage eight of the Tour de France

Paris, July 11 (QNA) - Belgian Tim Merlier claimed his second consecutive victory by dominating the sprint finish of the eighth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, while defending champion Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia retained the yellow jersey as overall leader.

Merlier started outside the competition in part of the final stage after losing his position at the head of the group, but he launched a powerful sprint from a long distance, overtaking all his rivals to cross the finish line first ahead of Eritrean Biniam Girmay, while Dutchman Olav Kooij finished third.

With this victory, Merlier increased his tally to five stage wins in his third Tour de France appearance, and also reduced the gap to just 15 points with Danish rider Mads Pedersen, who leads the green jersey classification for the best sprinter.

The eighth stage, held in the Dordogne region famous for its thousand castles and ancient cave paintings, was expected from the start to be decided in a sprint finish.