​Dutch rider Olav Kooij won the fifth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Wednesday, while Norwegian rider Torstein Traeen held onto the yellow jersey as the peloton largely relaxed. Contender Jonas Vingegaard, however, ended up on teammate Victor Campenaerts’ bike after a late crash in the peloton that also involved defending champion Tadej Pogacar. In the sprint, Kooij was guided into a prime position by his Decathlon CMA CGM team, allowing him to outpace German rider Max Kanter and Belgian Tim Merlier in a fast dash to the line. All three finished the stage in just under three and a half hours.
After the finish, the 24-year-old Kooij said, “After a couple of hard days here, I had to wait for this day to get my first chance to sprint in the Tour and to win immediately is unbelievable. It was quite an easy day until the final moments, when you know it will be hectic. Everyone is still really eager, and I just managed to find my way.” This marked Kooij’s first Tour stage victory; he already has three Giro d’Italia stage wins on his palmarès.
Traeen crossed the line 14 seconds later within a large chase group that included Pogacar and Vingegaard. The Norwegian rider remains about eight minutes behind the overall leaders in the standings. Although Traeen took the yellow jersey on Stage 4, he is not viewed as a serious overall favorite to win the race.
Wednesday’s stage came after a demanding sequence of events in the Tour: a challenging team time trial, an early mountain stage, devastating wildfires, and temperatures climbing to 38C. The flatter 158.3-kilometer route, stretching from Lannemezan to Pau in southwestern France, was tailor-made for sprinters and offered a welcomed reprieve for riders seeking to conserve energy for the days ahead.
The result also impacted the overall dynamic of the race. Traeen’s Uno-X Mobility squad was not forced into defensive work by breakaways, meaning Pogacar and Vingegaard could preserve energy for upcoming stages. This setup keeps the GC battle open while rewarding the sprint specialists who found a way through the final kilometers to claim victory. As the race continues, teams will reassess strategies for stage profiles that lie ahead, balancing sprint opportunities with the ongoing effort to protect or challenge the yellow jersey.