(Image credit: Gonzalo Fuentes - Pool/Getty Images)

"Nice lead out, yeah?" shouted a grinning Fernando Gaviria to the Soudal Quick-Step bus as he wheeled down the Quai Louis XVIII, on the banks of a rather silty River Garonne.

A Tour de France sprint always muddies the waters between lead-out trains as riders chop in and out, searching for space but also shelter.

Gaviria, now at Caja Rural-Seguros RGA was twice a stage winner with his former Wolfpack employers. Quick-Step has been home to generational talents like Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel. It takes being the very best to be top of the pecking order at one of the best-sprint teams in history.

That crown is firmly sitting on the blonde, frequently casquette-adorned, head of Tim Merlier, winner of stage seven. The Belgian is widely-regarded as the best sprinter in the current peloton – partly down to how he can navigate high-speed finales.

After the stage, Merlier talked through the tactics of his late sprint: "I think it was Gaviria coming on the inside. I was alone and was a bit more in the wind, so I needed to go back to the wheel to have a bit of slipstream, and then I launched my sprint. I was searching for how many metres there was left, but I didn't find it, but luckily I had the legs to make the finish."

The victory is Merlier's fourth in the Tour and, outside of Paris, he probably couldn't have chosen a more iconic finish. Bordeaux's previous sprint winners include Cavendish (2010), Erik Zabel (1997), and Merlier's Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels (1999). On a stifling afternoon, the city was as resplendent as ever as it hosted a finish for the 81st time – behind only the capital in the number of stage finishes. The banks of the Garonne are enriched in Tour history.

Downstream the river's silt-rich waters mix with those of the Dordogne to create the Gironde Estuary, which nourishes the world-renowned wine soils of the Médoc and Graves regions. But on Friday, Merlier only had eyes for navigating upstream in the peloton. With 250 metres to go, Mathieu van der Poel launched his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen – too far out to hold off a marauding mass of Tour-level sprinters.

The fast-men are used to pressure. In his victory celebration, Merlier mimicked brushing off the anxiety from his shoulders which had been building before the start in Barcelona.

"We had a meeting before the Tour in the bus before the TTT, and the CEO Jurgen [Foré] told me I got a bit too much pressure on my shoulders, so when we left the bus, he did the same," explained Merlier.

It's easy to say, but one way to alleviate pressure is to just be the best. Merlier is in this position thanks to his talent and work, but also because he is part of one of the best-drilled machines in the sport. One cog is Jasper Stuyven, who moved from Lidl-Trek over the winter in what has turned out to be a hugely successful transfer. The Belgian was Paul Magnier's lieutenant during a dominating Giro d'Italia campaign.

Today, Stuyven shepherded his leader until 500m to go, from where Merlier could surf the wheels on his own.

"I think we played it well, and I have to say, I was really good in control," Stuyven said after the stage. "I could anticipate the movements of the bunch. I remembered slight bends from two years ago, where the leading guy will go from the left to the right, but it also means you can create that space to move."

Stuyven has been one of – if not the – best lead-out riders this year, helping his sprinters navigate the finales safely and in touching distance of the front. But he was quick to point out the help he also benefits from being part of the Wolfpack.

"I think the way I could get to that final was because everyone did a great job today, and we were never in any kind of trouble. I think Tim [Merlier] lost me a bit on the bridge, but before that, I think everyone just gave 110% to get us to that hectic final as fast as possible."

A sprint team's work starts early on a stage like today's.

"Everyone was super focused today and really motivated. Valentin [Paret-Peintre] kept going to the car for bottles. The heat was increasing today. And then Pascal [Eenkhoorn] pulled, but he got dropped, then he got back with bottles and pulled again, and got dropped again. He just kept fighting to come back and every two minutes he could continue, was saving energy for Dylan [van Baarle], who then did the perfect run into the 7km mark, which I think is super important for everyone. And then Louis [Vervaeke] brought us to the 4.8K. I think everyone can be super proud of what they did today. It was up to Tim to finish it off."

It was a whole team effort, but Quick-Step's ambitions for the stage were complicated after key lead-out man and Merlier's close friend Bert Van Lerberghe abandoned the Tour on the Col du Tourmalet on stage six.

"I missed him in the stage," said Merlier. "But then we're gonna miss him on the other stages even more. I'm a guy who always has confidence in the team. I trust them. I always try to follow as long as possible, as long as it's not too dangerous. But yeah, for sure I missed Bert. With him we get a bit more space in the bunch because Bert is a big guy."

A man down, but the Wolfpack are up and running at the Tour. Finding a celebratory wine shouldn't be too hard in this part of the world.