Lannemezan to Pau – 158 Km – Photos: A.S.O. Charley Lopez
Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) ruled the first sprint of his first Tour de France to put his name up in history.
The Dutchman found his opening in Pau, which first hosted a stage finish in 1930, and most recently in 2024, when Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory.
This time, the Belgian star had to settle for fifth in a hair-raising finale. Kooij outpaced Max Kanter (XDS Astana), second, and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), third, to give his team their 23rd victory in the Tour, their first since Felix Gall won in Courchevel in 2023.
As for a sprint success, it is the first for the French team since 2004. Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) was caught in a late crash but he retains the Maillot Jaune on the eve of a major GC battle: stage 6 takes the riders into the Pyrenees, passing by Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet, finishing in Gavarnie-Gèdre.
The Details
This was the 77th time the Tour visited Pau, the third most visited city in the history of the race after Paris and Bordeaux. The last stage finish here, in 2024, favored one of the best sprinters in recent history: Jasper Philipsen.
Veistroffer leads the way
It was a fast start at Lannemezan, but one rider wanted to make a big dent: Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché), whose leader Arnaud De Lie had to leave the race on day 3 due to a bad case of gastroenteritis.
Without their sprinter, the Belgian team needed to find new ways to weigh on the race and chase a 42nd victory in their history in the Tour, the first since Victor Campenaerts’s successful breakaway in Barcelonnette (2024).
Defending a Grand Tour leader’s jersey for the first time in their history, Uno-X Mobility took the reins of the peloton early in the stage. The gap reached a maximum of 3’40’’ at km 21. Then Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Premier Tech took over the pace-setting in the bunch as they tried to control the day for their respective leaders, Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen.
Veistroffer takes the first prize
A specialist of (solo) breakaways, Veistroffer showed his physical and mental endurance. He led by 2’10’’ as he took full points at the intermediate sprint (Vic-en-Bigorre, km 113.5) ahead of Max Kanter (XDS Astana) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The Dane wears the green jersey for the time in the Tour after winning the points standings of La Vuelta and the Giro.
Veistroffer is still alone at the front to crest the Côte de Baleix (km 132.7). 40 seconds behind him, polka-dot jersey wearer Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) takes the last KOM point up for grabs. Veistroffer is also named the most combative rider of the day.
Træen is caught behind a crash, Kooij flies ahead
Over the top, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) accelerated. Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) worked with him while Valentin Paret-Peintre marked them. They are reeled in with 17 kilometers to go. Veistroffer was also swallowed three kilometers further down the road.
Sprint teams control the finale, but a crash with just over 5 kilometers to go upset the finale. Caught behind, Torstein Træen chased hard to defend the Maillot Jaune. At the front, XDS Astana set the sprint for Max Kanter, but Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) flew past everyone to take the win. No gaps were recorded between the main GC contenders.
