Olav Kooij emerged from the heat haze in the Place de Verdun to claim stage five of the Tour de France in Pau, his first sprint victory in the 2026 edition. The 24-year-old Dutchman, riding for Decathlon CMA CGM, powered past XDA Astana's Max Kanter with ease, while Norway's Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after a late crash delayed him but did not cost him the lead.
Kooij, who took three stages in last year's Tour of Britain, revealed he almost missed the Tour due to a lingering illness. "I was tired for the first two months of the year," he said. "There were moments when I had no idea how long it would take. We had made a lot of plans and a lot of the time we had to adjust them. Step by step, I got more confidence that I'd be ready for the Tour, but for sure, it was a race against the clock."
Crash in the finale delays race leader Træen
In one of the few sprint stages in this year's race, the fight for positioning turned chaotic with crashes in the final kilometres. Race leader Torstein Træen was among those involved, but he managed to rejoin the peloton without losing time. "We went through a corner and suddenly I was on the ground," he said. "Luckily the Visma train [of Jonas Vingegaard] was going fast and we got back to the group."
Træen, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022 but returned after successful surgery, savoured his first day in yellow. "When you get cancer you don't know what will happen, so I'm happy to be back at a good level and leading the biggest race in the world," he said.
Lone breakaway by debutant Veistroffer
Another long, hot afternoon saw Lotto-Intermarché's Baptiste Veistroffer as the sole aggressor. The Tour debutant from Brittany spent almost 140 kilometres alone at the front, ploughing through the hot asphalt before being caught with just 14 kilometres remaining after climbing the day's only categorized ascent, the Côte de Baleix.
Thursday's stage to Gavarnie-Gédre includes the Tourmalet, a long steep climb that was the scene of Remco Evenepoel's humiliating abandonment from the Tour in 2025. The double Olympic gold medallist has made a solid start this year but has not yet been discussed in the same terms as Paul Seixas or Isaac del Toro. However, as a former third-place finisher and Vuelta a España winner, he remains a strong podium contender.
Evenepoel and Lipowitz: team leadership questions
Now 26, Evenepoel leads Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe alongside quietly-spoken German teammate Florian Lipowitz, who finished third overall in 2025. The big-money collaboration has yet to ignite the sport, and questions about whether the two can work together drew a prickly response from Evenepoel. "I know where you want to go," he said. "You want to hear me say I want to be on the podium and then hear Florian say he wants to be on the podium. Of course we want to be on the podium, but if we do it in a good way without this negative energy, it's good for both of us and for the team."
Team manager Ralph Denk acknowledged the ambiguity. "Remco is still the team leader and Florian Lipowitz is a bit of the second man but in terms of sporting performance, they are on equal footing," he said. "They will have to fight it out between themselves on the road."
Tourmalet test: Pogacar's potential attack
Any internal battle looks to be on hold for now, with expectations that the favourites will keep their powder dry on the Tourmalet unless Tadej Pogacar launches a solo attack. Træen was wary. "Tadej is Tadej," he shrugged. "We have to see how fast they are going. If he goes full gas on the Tourmalet, then maybe I will be behind. Then you don't know how much you might lose, so we'll just have to see."
