Dutch rider Olav Kooij won the fifth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Wednesday, while Norwegian rider Torstein Traeen kept the yellow jersey on a day when the peloton largely took it easy.
Tour contender Jonas Vingegaard, however, finished on teammate Victor Campenaerts’ bike after a late crash in the peloton, which included defending champion Tadej Pogacar.
Kooij, meanwhile, was put in a strong position to attack by his Decathlon CMA CGM teammates and held off German Max Kanter and Belgian Tim Merlier in a dash to the line. They all finished in just under three and a half hours.
“After a couple of hard days here, I had to wait for this day to get (a) first chance to sprint in the Tour and to immediately win is unbelievable,” the 24-year-old Kooij said.
“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.”
It was first stage win on the Tour for Kooij, who has won three stages on the Giro d’Italia. Traeen rolled over the line 14 seconds later in a big main group containing defending champion Pogacar and yellow jersey contender Vingegaard. They both trail Traeen by about eight minutes in the standings.
But Traeen, who took the yellow jersey on Stage 4, is not considered a contender for overall victory.
After a testing team time trial, an early mountain stage, raging wildfires and sweltering temperatures hitting 38C, riders appreciated Wednesday’s flatter fifth stage. The 158.3-kilometre route from Lannemezan to Pau in southwestern France was made for sprinters.
It meant that Traeen’s Uno-X Mobility team did not have to chase down any breakaway riders potentially in contention to take the yellow jersey from him and that four-time Tour champion Pogacar and two-time champion Vingegaard could save vital energy for the days ahead.
