The race for the stage and the general classification merged into one in the final few kilometres of the summit finish atop La Planche des Belles Filles.
While it was Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) taking the stage win after a fascinating battle with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) at the head of the race, there were mixed results for the other main contenders who all conceded significant time in the battle for yellow.
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Tour de France rankings
INEOS quartet in top 10 overall
Geraint Thomas moved up to third place overall at the Tour de France following a strong performance on stage seven for fifth. The Grenadier now sits one minute and 10 seconds back on the yellow jersey of Pogačar.
The Welshman dug deep on the steep slopes of La Super Planche des Belles Filles, maintaining good position throughout, and looking strong as he responded to the surges of the more explosive riders.
Adam Yates came home ninth on the day, 29 seconds behind the stage winner to remain fourth overall, now eight seconds back on his teammate. Tom Pidcock and Dani Martinez clung on to finish near the rear of the splintered lead group, and the pair now occupy seventh and 10th on the GC respectively.
More importantly, the alternative Tour de France continues for Geraint Thomas's gilet.
Vingegaard and Roglič lead charge against Pogačar
The expectations pre-race were that it would be a case of the Jumbo-Visma pair versus the incumbent champion. Those plans appeared to be dashed with Primož Roglič’s crash and dislocated shoulder on Stage 5 in the hay bale incident but the Slovenian didn’t look far off his best form as he was good for third on the finish as others dropped away around him.
“I can be satisfied with my result today,” said Roglič. “The pain after my fall the day before yesterday is no excuse for me and I refuse to throw in the towel. I will keep fighting anyway.
“The recovery will get better by the day. The last few hundred metres of today were very tough, but I fought my way to the top. We did well as a team.”
Jonas Vingegaard echoed Roglič’s sentiments, focusing on the positives out of the performance.
“I felt super strong on the climb and I'm obviously very happy with that,” said Vingegaard. “However, it is a shame that I was overtaken in the last metres. As a team we are on the podium today with two men.
“That is a signal that the form is in good shape. We need that level to compete with the competition in the coming mountain stages. I'm not really disappointed after this second place. The feeling of the good form with Primož and me prevails.”
Vlasov drops down overall after previous day’s crash
Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe) had managed to return and limit the damage on the general classification after crashing late in Stage 6, but the Tour de Romandie winner was feeling the strain on the Planche des Belles Filles. Vlasov lost a minute and 39 seconds to slip to 12th overall.
“It was really hard for me today,” said Vlasov. “I had a lot of muscle pain in my lower back and especially in the second half of the race I suffered a lot. When I lost contact to the GC group, I tried to find a rhythm to limit the time loss.
“Of course, this is disappointing, it was a bad day. But I hope to recover and then the Tour is still long.”
O’Connor out of GC fight for good
It was another bad day for the West Australian as Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroen) tried to maintain the remnants of his general classification bid, but it all came apart on the final climb, with O’Connor finishing six minutes and 45 seconds behind Pogačar. He now sits in 46th overall, just under 14 minutes off the race lead.
“I went to try again today, but my legs, it felt like they blew up like balloons and then exploded,” said O’Connor. “It’s pretty clear what I’ve got to do, go for breakaways later in the race. It’s been pretty disappointing the whole week, this is the icing on the cake. I know the team wanted me to keep doing the GC but it’s just not going to happen.”
“The race isn’t over, and there’s plenty of chances once and hopefully I feel better.”
Good Gaudu shepherded by Storer to high placing
Australian Michael Storer swatted aside running fans and manned the front of the peloton to keep French GC hope David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) in with a chance and then Gaudu repaid that effort, performing impressively to ride into fifth overall with his finish 19 seconds adrift of Pogačar.
“We are still on track for the goal we set ourselves, about 20 seconds off the podium,” said Gaudu. “I had good feelings, not the best ever, but they were ok.
“The team did a great job, and everyone was there. To have the public behind you, hear it shouting ‘Allez Thibaut, Allez David’, that’s really nice. I am fifth among the favourites, but I must stay focused. The Tour has only just begun, this was only the first test.”
Bardet keeping impressive Tour de France bid intact
Romain Bardet (Team DSM) came into the Tour de France under the radar after an promising Giro d’Italia campaign was curtailed due to illness. He has looked very good so far at the Tour de France, and sits sixth overall, a minute and 32 seconds behind Pogačar and one second behind countryman Gaudu.
Finishing in a select group atop the climb and gravel road to finish, Bardet dug deep right to the finish just 21 seconds down on the stage winner.
“Today was a pretty good day,” said Bardet. “The guys put me in a good position at the bottom of the last climb then I just tried to follow the best as much as I can. I’m pretty happy with the day, we worked well through out the stage and will look to carry on like this.”
Enric Mas (Movistar) is sitting in ninth overall after another solid effort that has seen him be largely anonymous, but continue to maintain his general classification campaign.
Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) put in a below-par performance for the established Grand Tour star, finishing 51 seconds behind the winner and alongside Louis Meintjes (Intermarche) who had to run his bike over the finish line. Quintana slipped to 11th overall, two minutes and six seconds off the yellow jersey.
The Tour de France continues with Stage 8, a 186 kilometre route from Dole to Lausanne, Switzerland. Watch the Tour de France on SBS and the SBS On Demand from 9.30pm and from the earlier time of 8.55pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker.
