Belgian Tim Merlier of Soudal-Quick Step won the seventh stage of the Tour de France on Friday, after beating his rival Søren Wærenskjold at the finish line following a strong late attack in Bordeaux.

Four-time champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the overall lead as he seeks a third consecutive title.

On a relatively incident-free day in southwestern France, where temperatures reached 38°C in Bordeaux, Merlier timed his sprint to the line perfectly, overtaking his compatriot Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay to secure a clear victory.

Alpecin-Deceuninck, Philipsen's team, appeared to set everything up perfectly for the ten-time stage winner to launch towards the finish line, but he did not have enough speed to hold off Merlier.

Philipsen finished fifth, behind German Max Kanter who was fourth. As for the main contenders for the overall title, they finished the stage safely in the main peloton.

It was another day of a doomed breakaway attempt from the start, with few riders showing interest in being part of it.

Frenchman Baptiste Vastovère launched solo after the start flag was raised, for the second time in three days.

Unlike on Wednesday when he rode 144 kilometers solo, this time the Frenchman was joined by Czech Jakub Otruba.

The sprinter teams were not ready to take any risks, so they did not allow the duo to gain more than a minute and a half.

Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) said: "After all the work we did two days ago and today, we were the only team alongside Alpecin that was chasing the breakaway, so I am happy that the win did not go to another team."

Top five finishers in the stage:

1. Belgian Tim Merlier 3:44:20

2. Norwegian Søren Wærenskjold same time

3. Eritrean Biniam Girmay same time

4. German Max Kanter same time

5. Belgian Jasper Philipsen same time

Top five in the general classification:

1. Slovenian Tadej Pogačar 24:56:17

2. Danish Jonas Vingegaard +2:42

3. Mexican Isaac del Toro +3:27

4. Belgian Remco Evenepoel +3:30

5. Spanish Juan Ayuso +3:34