Olav Kooij claims Tour de France stage five with Tourmalet test looming large

• The 24-year-old beat German Max Kanter into second

• Norway’s Torstein Træen keeps leader’s yellow jersey

Olav Kooij emerged out of the heat haze in the Place de Verdun to win stage five of the Tour de France in Pau. The first sprint finish in the 2026 Tour saw Kooij, teammate to Paul Seixas at the Decathlon CMA CGM team, win with ease from Max Kanter of XDA Astana.

Yet Kooij, who took three stages in last year’s Tour of Britain, almost didn’t start 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.”