Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM secured an “unbelievable” sprint victory on Tour de France Stage 5, marking his first win in the competition. The Dutchman emerged from a 20-strong group that contested the sprint, delivering a strong performance after what he described as a “tough spring”.
The stage itself was another scorcher, featuring a one-man breakaway that was consistently kept on a short leash. Despite the early efforts, the day concluded with a decisive dash to the line.
Kooij’s Unbelievable Sprint
Speaking after his win, Olav Kooij shared his sentiments, stating, “to immediately win is unbelievable. It means quite a lot.” He reflected on a challenging period, adding, “I had a pretty tough spring, and I think just to get back to this level and to keep believing and in yourself, and just a few people who believe in you as well, is all you need.”
Kooij credited his team’s support, noting, “to be here with support of the team today was all I could ask for, and yeah, they did a great job.” He characterised the final moments of the stage as “pretty hectic,” explaining that “it was quite an easy day until the final, so then you know it will be hectic.” He observed that “this first sprint in the Tour, everyone is still really eager,” and he “managed to find my way a bit on my own in the end, but I found the right wheel, and I just wanted to have the chance to sprint today, and when I saw the line, I just went as hard.”
GC Contenders Finish Together
For the General Classification contenders, Stage 5 concluded without major incident, with no dramas in the end. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG led home the second group on the road, which crossed the line 14 seconds behind the 20-strong group that contested the sprint. Notably, there were no GC men present in that lead sprint group.
There was a moment of concern for Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike and Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, who were described as “scrambling to the line quite far behind the back of the Pogačar group.” However, despite this scare, along with Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG also in the peloton, official timings ensured no changes to the overall standings.
Measured in pure time, there was a fair old gap between some clusters of riders. Nevertheless, enough riders came across the line that no actual gap could be recorded between any of those mini clusters, meaning all the GC men finished on the same time.
Among the riders listed who contested the sprint were Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM, Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep, Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarché, Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team. Also present were Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies, Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché, Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla, Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling, and Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers.
The result ensures that the top contenders for the yellow jersey maintain their positions, with no dramas to report in the overall classification.