Olav Kooij claimed his first-ever Tour de France stage victory after a dramatic and crash-hit finish on Stage 5 of the 2026 Tour de France. The Dutch rider surged to victory in Pau after a late crash split the peloton with just over 5 km remaining, beating Germany’s Max Kanter into second and Belgium’s Tim Merlier into third.
Despite the late chaos, Norway’s Torstein Træen successfully retained the yellow jersey, while the overall general classification remained unchanged ahead of the Tour’s first major mountain test. Stage 5 marked Kooij’s maiden Tour de France win on his debut appearance and delivered one of the most dramatic sprint finishes of the race so far.
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