Olav Kooij of Decathlon CMA CGM emerged from the heat haze in the Place de Verdun to win stage five of the Tour de France in Pau. The 24-year-old Dutchman beat Max Kanter of XDA Astana in the first sprint finish of the 2026 edition.
Kooij's recovery from illness
Kooij, who took three stages in last year's Tour of Britain, 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." He added: "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."
Træen keeps yellow jersey despite crash
Fighting for position intensified in the final kilometres, with crashes delaying race leader Torstein Træen of Uno-X Mobility. Despite the mishap, the Norwegian retained his overall lead. "We went through a corner and suddenly I was on the ground," Træen said. "Luckily the Visma train [of Jonas Vingegaard] was going fast and we got back to the group." Træen, diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022 but returned after successful surgery, said: "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."
Stage five details
Another long, hot afternoon featured ice vests, ice socks, and water-cooled helmets. Lotto-Intermarché's Baptiste Veistroffer was the sole aggressor, ploughing a solitary furrow for almost 140km before being caught with 14km to race. The stage's only climb, the Côte de Baleix, was crossed before the break ended.
Tourmalet test for Evenepoel
Thursday's stage six to Gavarnie-Gedre returns to the Tourmalet, the steep climb where Remco Evenepoel abandoned the Tour in 2025. The double Olympic gold medallist leads Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe alongside Florian Lipowitz. Questions about their collaboration drew a prickly response from Evenepoel: "I know where you want to go. 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 said: "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. They will have to fight it out between themselves on the road."
Pogacar threat
Expectation is that, unless Tadej Pogacar attacks solo, favourites will keep their powder dry on the Tourmalet. Træen said: "Tadej is Tadej. 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."
