Olav Kooij won stage five of the 2026 Tour de France in Pau, taking the first sprint finish of the race after a crash just over five kilometres from the line helped split the peloton and create a chaotic finale.
The win came in 3:29:07 and marked a major moment for the Dutch rider, who had already shown his finishing ability last year by winning three stages in the Tour of Britain. This time, he handled the pressure of a messy run-in in Pau and was first across the line in Place de Verdun.
Late crash changes the stage
The decisive moment came just over five kilometres from the finish, when a crash in the narrow streets of Pau disrupted the sprint setup and raised immediate questions about whether the finish would be neutralised. It was not, and the race stayed live all the way to the line.
That left the fast men to fight it out in difficult conditions, with Kooij finding the best position when it mattered most. Jasper Philipsen finished second and said afterward that he “didn’t have the legs,” while the battle for third also came from the same broken-up sprint.
What it means for the race
Stage five was the first sprint finish of the 2026 Tour de France, so the result carried added weight for the riders targeting flat-day opportunities. With the opening sprint decided in unusual circumstances, the stage also showed how quickly a calm finale can turn unpredictable once the roads tighten and the pace ramps up.
For Kooij, it was a clean and important win. For everyone else, it was a reminder that positioning and timing can matter as much as raw speed when the road to the finish becomes chaotic. You can read more about the stage here.
