Dutch debutant Olav Kooij won the fifth stage of the Tour de France 2026 on Wednesday in a chaotic sprint finish sparked by a crash 5 kilometers from the line that hampered several teams' hopes.
The 24-year-old beat German Max Kanter into second, with Belgian Tim Merlier coming home in third. Norway's Torstein Traeen kept the race leader's yellow jersey, despite being brought down in the crash.
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"I had to wait until this day to get this first chance to sprint in the Tour and to win it is unbelievable," Kooij said.
With the sprinters primed for action on this flat fifth stage billed as a likely bunch finish, there was understandably some extra tension in the peloton in the run-in.
Several riders went down in the spill with just over 5 kilometers to ride, with Dutchman Alex Molenaar seemingly the worst affected.
However, dozens of riders were slowed by the crash and found themselves desperately trying to chase down a reduced peloton charging toward the finish line at Pau on another sweltering day in the southwest of France.
Sprinters, such as Jasper Philipsen, lost key lead-out teammates like Mathieu van der Poel, and it led to a disorganized run to the finish, line with no teams able to tee up their fast men as they would have wanted to.
Co-captain of the Decathlon team alongside Paul Seixas, Kooij emerged from the chaos with an irresistible surge to the line to accomplish his pre-tour aim to "win at least one sprint stage."
"It was quite an easy day until the final, so then you know it will be hectic in this first sprint of the Tour," Kooij said. "Everyone is still really eager, and I just managed to find my way.
"I did it on my own in the end. I found the right wheel, and I just wanted to have a chance to sprint today. When I saw the line, I just went as hard as I could."
The Dutchman had never ridden at the Tour before, as his previous team, Visma-Lease a Bike, did not bring a sprinter to the race. They concentrated solely on their overall contender Jonas Vingegaard.
And Kooij got off to a poor start with new team Decathlon CMA CGM as he battled a long illness at the beginning of the year.
Baptiste Veistroffer Rides Away Lone Breakaway At TDF 2026
Traeen managed to finish in a group 14 seconds behind the winner, alongside reigning champion Tadej Pogačar and other overall contenders such as Vingegaard, Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel and French teenage sensation Seixas.
He was helped by Dane Vingegaard's Visma team motoring on after the crash to try to ensure their team leader, who is a two-time Tour winner, did not lose any vital seconds to his main rivals.
The Norwegian still leads the Tour by 28 seconds from American Sean Quinn, with Czech Mathias Vacek third at 3 minutes, 50 seconds.
"To be honest, I don't know that much, suddenly I was on the ground," said Traeen about his crash. "I went to a corner, and then I was there (on the ground), and then luckily, I had the Visma train coming past and brought us back to the group."
He said he had "a small wound on my knee, but nothing really serious."
It was a fairly typical sprint stage until the finale, with a doomed breakaway easily chased down before the business end.
Baptiste Veistroffer said before the stage began that he was determined to get away in a break, and sure enough, he was true to his word.
From the chequered flag, he shot off down the road, but perhaps to his surprise, no one else joined him.
It meant that the Frenchman spent 144 kilometers out alone at the front of the race before the sprinters' teams reeled him in with 14 kilometers left to ride.
"I enjoyed it a huge amount, I was smiling the whole day," Veistroffer said. "The encouragement, the fans on the Tour are something that you really have to honor."
After that, it was over to the sprinters' teams, but they were unable to control the run in.
Tour de France 2026 Stage 5 Results – Top 25
- Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:29:07 (B10)
- Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team) – 3:29:07 (B6)
- Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:29:07 (B4)
- Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché) – 3:29:07
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:29:07
- Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) – 3:29:07
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) – 3:29:07
- Milan Fretin (Cofidis) – 3:29:07
- Søren Wærenskjold (TotalEnergies) – 3:29:07
- Anthony Turgis (Uno-X Mobility) – 3:29:07
- Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Intermarché) – 3:29:07
- Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:29:07
- Clément Russo (Groupama - FDJ United) – 3:29:07
- Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:29:07
- Dorian Godon (Netcompany INEOS) – 3:29:07
- Pavel Bittner (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:29:07
- Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) – 3:29:07
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain - Victorious) – 3:29:07
- Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana Team) – 3:29:07
- Aaron Gate (XDS Astana Team) – 3:29:14
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 3:29:21
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:29:21
- Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:29:21
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 3:29:21
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:29:21
Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 5
- Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) – 16:32:07
- Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 16:32:35
- Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) – 16:35:57
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 16:40:00
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 16:40:00
- Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 16:40:13
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 16:40:23
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 16:40:24
- Isaac del Toro (Lidl - Trek) – 16:40:27
- Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 16:40:48
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 16:40:53
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 16:41:09
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 16:41:11
- Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 16:41:17
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 16:41:22
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 16:41:45
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 16:41:50
- Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 16:42:15
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Netcompany INEOS) – 16:42:19
- Thymen Arensman (Lotto Intermarché) – 16:42:20
- Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 16:42:28
- Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana Team) – 16:43:23
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar Team) – 16:43:24
- Raúl García Pierna (Movistar Team) – 16:43:41
- Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 16:43:50
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