{"id":2033681,"date":"2026-07-08T11:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2033681"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:38:17","slug":"as-it-happened-first-bunch-sprint-of-tour-de-france-ends-with-a-dominant-win-after-chaotic-run-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2033681","title":{"rendered":"As it happened: First bunch sprint of Tour de France ends with a dominant win after chaotic run-in"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-2000-80.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"m-0 box-border flex flex-row items-center pr-2.5 gap-[15px] w-[278px] h-20 flex-none upnext-article-divider\" role=\"listitem\" aria-label=\"Recommended article 1 of 3\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-none w-20 h-20\">\n    <source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/JCHyrfLhfcAJ3Us2NHus77-160-80.jpg.webp 160w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/JCHyrfLhfcAJ3Us2NHus77-80-80.jpg.webp 80w\" sizes=\"80px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-center absolute w-4 h-6 left-0 top-0 bg-white\/90 flex-none z-[1]\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"font-normal text-base leading-[17px] tracking-[1.3px] uppercase text-black flex-none\">1<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-center justify-center gap-1.5 w-[173px] h-20 flex-none\">\n<p class=\"font-article-heading font-medium text-base leading-[21px] text-gray-800 w-[173px] line-clamp-3 group-hover:underline\">\n                                    As it happened: former World Champion wins Tour de France stage 4 as new race leader takes over from Tadej Poga\u010dar\n                                <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"m-0 box-border flex flex-row items-center pr-2.5 gap-[15px] w-[278px] h-20 flex-none upnext-article-divider\" role=\"listitem\" aria-label=\"Recommended article 2 of 3\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-none w-20 h-20\">\n    <source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/ZVqXU4hAqBekSiepQALPvJ-160-80.jpg.webp 160w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/ZVqXU4hAqBekSiepQALPvJ-80-80.jpg.webp 80w\" sizes=\"80px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-center absolute w-[18px] h-6 left-0 top-0 bg-white\/90 flex-none z-[1]\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"font-normal text-base leading-[17px] tracking-[1.3px] uppercase text-black flex-none\">2<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-center justify-center gap-1.5 w-[173px] h-20 flex-none\">\n<p class=\"font-article-heading font-medium text-base leading-[21px] text-gray-800 w-[173px] line-clamp-3 group-hover:underline\">\n                                    As it happened: World champion grabs yellow by the smallest margins with Tour de France stage 3 uphill sprint\n                                <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"m-0 box-border flex flex-row items-center pr-2.5 gap-[15px] w-[278px] h-20 flex-none\" role=\"listitem\" aria-label=\"Recommended article 3 of 3\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-none w-20 h-20\">\n    <source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Q4cph26DeapJ8mNDeU9zEQ-160-80.jpg.webp 160w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Q4cph26DeapJ8mNDeU9zEQ-80-80.jpg.webp 80w\" sizes=\"80px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-center absolute w-[18px] h-6 left-0 top-0 bg-white\/90 flex-none z-[1]\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"font-normal text-base leading-[17px] tracking-[1.3px] uppercase text-black flex-none\">3<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-center justify-center gap-1.5 w-[173px] h-20 flex-none\">\n<p class=\"font-article-heading font-medium text-base leading-[21px] text-gray-800 w-[173px] line-clamp-3 group-hover:underline\">\n                                    As it happened: UAE Team Emirates-XRG show their muscle on Montju\u00efc circuit on Tour de France stage 2\n                                <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"page-content-onecol flex-1\nlive-article\n\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"widget-area-group widget-area-group-2col flex flex-wrap box-border\">\n<div id=\"widgetArea16\" class=\"widget-area basis-full md:basis-2\/3 widget-area-g-md-vp-2-3 widget-area-g-lg-vp-2-3 widget-area-g-xl-vp-2-3 page-widget-area-16\">\n<div data-widget-type=\"hero\" id=\"hero\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-hero widget-hero widget-hero-hero hero-live news-article widget-hero widget-hero-fter-review\">\n<div data-component-name=\"Article:Hero\" class=\"news-article\">\n<div class=\"header-container\">\n<nav class=\"breadcrumb\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\">\n<ol>\n<li>\nPro Cycling\n<\/li>\n<li>\nRacing\n<\/li>\n<li>\nRoad\n<\/li>\n<li>\nTour de France\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<header>\n<div class=\"header-sub-container\">\n<h1 class=\"review-title-long live-report\">As it happened: First bunch sprint of Tour de France ends with a dominant win after chaotic run-in<\/h1>\n<h2>All the action on a flat stage that&#8217;s expected to produce the first bunch sprint of the 2026 edition<br \/>\n<\/h2>\n<div class=\"vds-byline-block flex flex-row flex-nowrap my-1.5 gap-2 text-left items-start justify-start\" data-component-name=\"Article:BylineBlock\">\n<p>Live-reports<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-auto vds-simple-byline\"><span class=\"inline-block vds-author\"><br \/>\nBy<br \/>\nPatrick Fletcher <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex gap-1 vds-byline-with-avatar__meta\"><span class=\"vds-date block font-normal tracking-normal normal-case text-xs\"><br \/>\nLast updated<br \/>\n<time data-component-name=\"UI:DateTime\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:12:59Z\" class=\"relative-date\"><br \/>\n8 July 2026<br \/>\n<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<nav class=\"socialite-widget box less-space \" data-contexturl=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/live\/tour-de-france-stage-5-live\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"socialite\">\n<ul class=\"socialite-widget-ul\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-facebook\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-twitter\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-pinterest\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-email\"><\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"text-[color:var(--comment-count-text-color,inherit)]\"><span>2<\/span><span class=\"visible hidden sm:inline-block\">Comments<\/span><\/span><span class=\"text-[color:var(--comment-count-text-color,inherit)] hidden visible sm:inline-block\">Join the conversation<\/span><\/nav>\n<aside class=\"text-gray-700 flex items-center mx-0 my-5 p-0 justify-start text-left\" id=\"affiliate-disclaimer\" data-component-name=\"AffiliateDisclaimer\" data-hawk-message=\"Affiliate disclaimer removed because hawk deemed there are no affiliate links on this page\">\n<p class=\"text-[color:var(--affiliate-disclaimer--text-color,inherit)] mb-2 text-[length:var(--affiliate-disclaimer--font-size,0.75rem)] leading-[18px] md:text-[13px] [&amp;&gt;a]:text-inherit [&amp;&gt;a]:underline\">\nWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here\u2019s how it works.\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<figure>\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1920-80.jpg.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1600-80.jpg.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-750-80.jpg.webp 750w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"font-article-copy text-(--image--text--color) font-article-copy mt-2\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: \u00a9 Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo\" class=\"contents\" data-only-inline=\"1\">\n<div class=\"visible flex flex-row flex-nowrap sticky max-lg:-ml-5 top-[var(--site-header-height,60px)] sm:top-0 z-[9994] w-screen lg:w-full h-[50px] bg-white p-0 mb-5 border-neutral-200 border border-solid\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Variants:Inline\" data-analytics-id=\"sticky-nav\" id=\"sticky-nav--inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"sticky-nav\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-row w-full h-full overflow-x-scroll overflow-y-hidden tracking-normal overscroll-x-contain\" id=\"sticky-nav__scroll-container\"><span class=\"pl-4 my-auto text-base font-semibold font-article-heading lg:pl-3 lg:text-sm whitespace-nowrap uppercase\">Jump To:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"flex flex-row w-auto border-y-0\">\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\nborder-b-[3px] border-b-(--jumpto-underline-color) border-solid font-semibold \" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>Situation<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>Kilometre-zero<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>Breakaway is formed<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>100km remaining<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>70km to go<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>45km to go<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>Intermediate sprint<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>Attack!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>All together!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>10km to go<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-flex after:content-[&apos;&apos;] after:inline-block after:relative after:h-3\/6 after:w-px after:bg-neutral-200 after:top-1\/4\n\" data-component-name=\"Article:JumpTo:Inline:Link\">\n<p>5km to go<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-widget-type=\"contentparsed\" id=\"pinned-content\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-contentparsed widget-pinned-content widget-contentparsed-pinned-content widget-pinned news-article widget-content-parsed widget-content-parsed-default widget-content-parsed-live-feed \">\n<div class=\" article-body \">\n<div class><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8330771e-7ac1-11f1-baab-195e62bd293d\"><strong>2026 Tour de France &#8211; Everything you need to know<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 Tour de France &#8211; Route<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8330771e-7ac1-11f1-baab-195e62bd293d-2\"><strong>2026 Tour de France &#8211; Contenders<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 Tour de France stage 5 &#8211; Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Watch the 2026 Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-83307782-7ac1-11f1-b775-b1b799e3d1e5\"><strong>The world\u2019s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-situation\"><span>Situation<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-rDu3iM89u1WAOpWTWCZzmhRMHdQC6oOP\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-rDu3iM89u1WAOpWTWCZzmhRMHdQC6oOP slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Stage 5 top 10<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3:29:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 1 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 2 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 3 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 5 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 6 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 7 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 8 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 9 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 10 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 11 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>13<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Cl\u00e9ment Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 12 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>14<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 13 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>15<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 14 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-widget-type=\"contentparsed\" id=\"live-feed-multipage\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-contentparsed widget-live-feed-multipage widget-contentparsed-live-feed-multipage news-article widget-content-parsed widget-content-parsed-default multipage widget-content-parsed-live-feed \">\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\" article-body \">\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:12:59+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:12:59.301Z<\/time><\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DHQYNx8Dh1pfHOTZqb8EpkPALyojHuBU\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DHQYNx8Dh1pfHOTZqb8EpkPALyojHuBU slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">General classification top 10 after stage 5<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Torstein Tr\u00e6en (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>16:32:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:00:28<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:03:50<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tadej Poga\u010dar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:07:53<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Ramses Debruyne (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:06<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:16<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:17<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:20<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:41<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:10:17+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:10:17.889Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-836f8e42-7ae7-11f1-b836-537412389778\"><strong>No change on GC<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No dramas in the end. Poga\u010dar led home the second group on the road, 14 seconds behind the 20-strong group that contested the sprint, but there were no GC men up there. There was a scare for Vingegaard and Traaen, who were scrambling to the line quite far behind the back of the Poga\u010dar group. Measured in pure time, there was a fair old gap, but there were enough riders coming across the line that no actual gap could be recorded between any of those mini clusters of riders, meaning all the GC men finished on the same time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:06:33+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:06:33.142Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"results-2\">Results<\/h2>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DKucb8tJ3GvC9LKu38OAPVO2Qxv5q2uy\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DKucb8tJ3GvC9LKu38OAPVO2Qxv5q2uy slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Stage 5 top 10<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3:29:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 1 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 2 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 3 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 5 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 6 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 7 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 8 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 9 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 10 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 11 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>13<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Cl\u00e9ment Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 12 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>14<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 13 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>15<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 14 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:57:33+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:57:33.471Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-bbd36f3a-7ae5-11f1-9886-8b438e65790f\"><strong>Let&#8217;s hear from the winner, Olav Kooij<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After a couple hard days here already, we had to wait to this day to get this first chance to sprint in the Tour, and yeah, to immediately win is unbelievable. It means quite a lot. I think just in general, 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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think to be here with support of the team today was all I could ask for, and yeah, they did a great job, but it was pretty hectic. It was quite an easy day until the final, so then you know it will be hectic. And this first sprint in the Tour, everyone is still really eager. I just 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 as I could.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:55:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:55:51.699Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7f39743e-7ae5-11f1-9a4d-015d51f8d480\"><strong>GC damage?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re just waiting on the timings to come in, to assess whether any gaps were handed out. Tadej Poga\u010dar came home among a main bunch that&#8217;s been classed as 14 seconds down on the small group that contested the sprint finish. Traaen was held up so we&#8217;ll see if he has lost any time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:54:52+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:54:52.201Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-5ba33014-7ae5-11f1-9787-d7fcf75e8e64\">Brilliant sprint from Kooij, who remained calm through all that chaos, hitting out at the perfect time from the perfect position, and his acceleration was devastating. Merlier had speed at the end but started from too far back, while Philipsen had to settle for 5th, ahead of Girmay and Pedersen. Great rides from Kanter in second and Artz in fourth for a Lotto who&#8217;ve lost De Lie, but that was pretty emphatic stuff from Kooij.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:51:59+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:51:59.017Z<\/time><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-f46c6190-7ae4-11f1-b4a6-69b663670f0c\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:50:13+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:50:13.068Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b5534e2e-7ae4-11f1-ae0c-cba984c87bc3\">Kanter was second and Merlier came through for third just ahead of Huub Artz from Lotto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:47:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:47:29.375Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-53a12d36-7ae4-11f1-a16f-f5f653ea31b9\"><strong>Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) wins stage 5 of the Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:47:14+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:47:14.537Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4b0991ea-7ae4-11f1-afa3-a7f32cbf48f6\">Kooij hits out and gets out in front&#8230; and takes it!!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:57+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:57.155Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-409b4712-7ae4-11f1-a68d-1788138285ef\">It&#8217;s splitting still and oinly around 20 riders remain to sprint it out!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:44+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:44.688Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-38fa69ca-7ae4-11f1-ad18-b58a6fbbbcf0\">Into the final kilometre and its Astana and COfidis with the front positions, not what we expected at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:26+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:26.059Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2de1ad64-7ae4-11f1-847b-91119855f153\">Astana move up and it&#8217;s a flyer, but Alpecin are chaseing it down with one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:45+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:45.840Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-15faf6a6-7ae4-11f1-89f5-1167a3924a3a\">Cofidis still have Frentin being piloted. It&#8217;s scrappy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:25+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:25.660Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-09e179c6-7ae4-11f1-b2c1-cfb434b47d4a\">2km to go and Uno-X still have the front. NSN just behind with Askey ahead of Girmay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:07+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:07.814Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ff45f4c4-7ae3-11f1-8324-b3a3819d30b8\">Roundabout now and we have another crash, just one rider from Cofidis sent into the grass after a touch of shouolders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:44:26+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:44:26.060Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e66f2b32-7ae3-11f1-a637-cb2e9d810647\">Yellow jersey not in the front group! Race leader Torsten Traeen has been chopped by that split, as his own team drill it at the front of the race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:54+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:54.905Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-d3d12322-7ae3-11f1-9ad0-8118547bb40c\">Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural) was the one who crashed most heavily. BUt the race goes on and Uno-X are happemring it on the front with 3.5km to go<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:21+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:21.842Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c012889e-7ae3-11f1-b907-771231649b12\">That incident has caused a split in the peloton, as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:06+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:06.163Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-5km-to-go\"><span>5km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-b6d92940-7ae3-11f1-9dcc-f9a570d84133\">That crash was just outside the 5km to go banner, so outside of the safety net for any time losses. Let&#8217;s see who crashed. QuickStep had three riders involved but none were Merlier it seems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:42:02+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:42:02.016Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-90856df8-7ae3-11f1-8c35-61823e758bc0\">Crash! Right-hand bend and several riders have gone down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:41:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:41:20.126Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7783e834-7ae3-11f1-88c4-910ac790398f\">Alpecin are a bit further back and QuickStep have vanished from view.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:40:46+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:40:46.898Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63e6c04e-7ae3-11f1-8e37-2dbebf3fc98e\">Cofidis, working for Milan Frentin, are dominating this now with 7km to go. But now Uno-X are moving up on their shoulders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:40:17+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:40:17.211Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-5232cdde-7ae3-11f1-a697-478defe30ce2\">Ineos have Dorian Godon as an outsider who&#8217;s more of a hilly sprinter but has had a great season so far. They certainly don&#8217;t have a big GC card to keep safe as they used to do in sprints.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:39:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:39:10.078Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2a21fe14-7ae3-11f1-b975-bd1e370035b6\">Cofidis have set up on the left, Ineos on the right. Tudor and Uno-X also have presence in the middle, so it&#8217;s not the big sprint trains dominating just yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:38:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:38:29.912Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-120cec6c-7ae3-11f1-baa3-5dc622e197db\">These are the final 5km. It&#8217;s ever so slightly false flat down all the way to the final kilometre. We have a corner with 500m to go, which could be crucial.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-120cecd0-7ae3-11f1-9ab0-d7364cbee02d\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: ASO)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:37:47+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:37:47.181Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-10km-to-go\"><span>10km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-f8bce686-7ae2-11f1-98c0-6fd9407be4be\">10 to go and we&#8217;ve just gone down a mini descent with a couple of sweeping bends. The pace is high and they&#8217;re freewheeling, and it&#8217;s not going to slow up now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:34:50+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:34:50.414Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-reminder-of-the-main-contenders-2\">A reminder of the main contenders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-8f50de8c-7ae2-11f1-9d20-eb306136ed3f\">We&#8217;ve mentioned <strong>Jasper Philipsen <\/strong>(Alpecin-Premier Tech) and the Belgian is the top Tour de France sprinter of recent years, with 10 stages to his name already. With a strong lead-out train that includes Mathieu van der Poel, he&#8217;s a hot favourite.<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen&#8217;s closest rival in recent years has been his fellow Belgian, <strong>Tim Merlier <\/strong>(Soudal-QuickStep), who bagged two stages last year. He had a disrupted start to the season but has six wins to his name already and looks back to his best.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8f50de8c-7ae2-11f1-9d20-eb306136ed3f-2\"><strong>Olav Kooij <\/strong>(Decathlon CMA CGM) also had a disrupted season start, and his very presence was doubted when Paul Seixas shot through the roof and revolutionised the team&#8217;s plans for the Tour. But Kooij, finally riding his first Tour after years of limited opportunities at Visma, proved himself with three wins in two build-up races.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biniam Girmay <\/strong>(NSN) won the green jersey two years ago and though he didn&#8217;t win a single race in 2025, he&#8217;s looking more like his old self again these days.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t count out <strong>Mads Pedersen<\/strong> (Lidl-Trek), who won from the breakaway yesterday but can more than hold his own in bunch kicks.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Who&#8217;s your pick? Vote in the poll just above<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:33:37+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:33:37.549Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63c93fe8-7ae2-11f1-8ae7-3d6791088c98\">And now we begin the wind-up to the sprint. All the main teams are getting organised with their trains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:32:58+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:32:58.318Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-all-together\"><span>All together!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-4c808076-7ae2-11f1-8fa1-ebc410f737a8\">Baptiste Veistroffer&#8217;s solo breakaway comes to an end, with 14km remaining. He was never going to make it but he put in one hell of a ride, animating this stage all on his own. The combativity prize will no doubt be his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:29:54+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:29:54.236Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-deac62b8-7ae1-11f1-9cb0-dba3535f4d4e\">Wright, Asgreen and Paret-Peintre are all back in the bunch again. QuickStep get back to the front. Veistroffer is only 10 seconds ahead with 16km to go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:29:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:29:20.393Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ca91de20-7ae1-11f1-986a-c521ebc9db83\">De Kleijn has been dropped again, this time on the flat. Definitely not his day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:28:34+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:28:34.053Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-aeecbef6-7ae1-11f1-913d-35948b87ccbe\">Fred Wright pulls up. The peloton are hot on the heels and he knows it&#8217;s no use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:26:38+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:26:38.221Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-69d6816c-7ae1-11f1-9d87-4f41b2fe8e81\">Arvid De Kleijn is back in the bunch. He was dropped on the climb, which does not bode well for his chances in today&#8217;s sprint finish. He&#8217;s been struggling so far in this Tour, but struggling with a sense of perspective.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;This suffering is nothing compared to what I saw&#8217; \u2013 With late father as inspiration, Arvid De Kleijn just beats time cut at Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:24:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:24:43.359Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2565e716-7ae1-11f1-9844-032442bb2046\">Veistroffer is flagging. The Wright\/Asgreen group is 20 seconds behind him now, the peloton a further 20 seconds back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:22:47+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:22:47.693Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e0750b78-7ae0-11f1-ab1b-35473506a7fb\">Paret-Peintre is just marking this one. QuickStep have Merlier as a sprint favourite and have been pulling all day. He won&#8217;t contribute here but his presence does allow QuickStep to sit back in the bunch now and coax other teams to the front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:21:41+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:21:41.658Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b910970a-7ae0-11f1-a54d-e592311730b3\">Wright has company in Kasper Asgreen (EF) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (QuickStep).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:21:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:21:18.059Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-attack\"><span>Attack!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-ab085bde-7ae0-11f1-a7b3-2f827f27a144\">Fred Wright was up there as Baudin accelerated for the KOM point and the British champ has basically turned this into an attack. It&#8217;s the longest of shots, 25km out, but it&#8217;s finally something to get excited about on this snoozy day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:20:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:20:11.780Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-83ad1426-7ae0-11f1-96ff-a54f0174b9e0\">The polka-dot mountains jersey is on the shoulders of Alex Baudin and his EF teammates set him up now as the peloton nears the summit. He duly takes the one remaining point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:19:30+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:19:30.129Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-6abc52d8-7ae0-11f1-aaa0-d1bcc7c823c2\">Veistroffer crests the climb alone with a lead of 50 seconds. He picks up two mountains classification points.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:18:04+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:18:04.249Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-day-s-only-climb-2\">The day&#8217;s only climb<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-377be212-7ae0-11f1-80fb-1b5ff7dd1966\">Veistroffer hits the C\u00f4te de Baleix, which is our only categorised climb today. It&#8217;s a cat-3 number, measuring 1km at 8.8%, so it&#8217;s short but still sting. 50 seconds the gap as our leader gets out of the saddle for the first real time since launching his breakaway-making attack at KM0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:16:27+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:16:27.111Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-fdaa3610-7adf-11f1-badf-113df99ac2ea\">Veistroffer, we are told, is known as the &#8216;Sanglier de Fouesnant&#8217; in his native France \u2013 that&#8217;s &#8216;the boar of Fousenant&#8217;, the latter being his hometown in Brittany. He&#8217;s 26 but this is only his second year as a pro, having previously competed in triathlon. He came through Decathlon&#8217;s development set-up before turning pro with Lotto last year. He&#8217;s a canny rider who loves an unlikely attack, pulling off a fine stage win at the Tour of Oman earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:07:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:07:20.106Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b797f46a-7ade-11f1-9dd1-d5a4fbe95d3c\">QuickStep have raised the pace now. 33km to go and they have six riders on the front, with the gap to Veistroffer dropping to around the 1:10 mark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:02:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:02:43.205Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-12b10f0e-7ade-11f1-8f2a-699156c65af1\">Pedersen is wearing the green jersey after his win yesterday but with 70 points on offer on the finish line, that&#8217;s where the green jersey battle will really ignite. Girmay is actually the only rider who could overhaul Pedersen today, but we should get a better sense of who&#8217;s capable of hauling in the points on these finishes.<\/p>\n<p>A reminder that the points system is different this year with bumper packages on offer on designated sprint stages, and a general recalibration of the intermediate sprints. More on that in the link below.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-12b10f0e-7ade-11f1-8f2a-699156c65af1-2\"><strong>An attempt to stop Tadej Poga\u010dar? Tour de France further adjusts green jersey points system to keep it sprinter-friendly<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:53:06+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:53:06.261Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-intermediate-sprint\"><span>Intermediate sprint<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-baa7b1ba-7adc-11f1-bd74-8fd98379393e\">An odd one, as XDS Astana launch the sprint and gap the rest of the bunch in the process. Their sprinter Max Kanter is first from the bunch, followed by Pedersen, Girmay, and, on the other side of the road, Philipsen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:50:15+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:50:15.015Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-45km-to-go\"><span>45km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-5481231c-7adc-11f1-bbff-6d02005ad05b\">Veistroffer passes through the intermediate sprint in Vic-en-Bigorre, collecting the maximum 25 points on offer, obviously uncontested. The real battle is coming from the bunch ina. couple of minutes&#8217; time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:48:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:48:10.834Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-0a8bafb6-7adc-11f1-845a-ada664bb936d\">Jonas Vingegaard has had some sort of issue and has had to drop back to his team car. He barks at a camera to get out the way and looks a tad stressed as he speeds back to the peloton, but no major dramas at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:46:07+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:46:07.519Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c0fe1956-7adb-11f1-85ae-83b6d9623508\"><strong>Let&#8217;s hear from Biniam Girmay, speaking at the start of today&#8217;s stage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately we had a crash yesterday with Jake Stewart so he will not be there in the final lead-out for me. It will cost us for sure. I think Alpecin have a good leadout and Merlier is also strong in this kind of finish. After four hard days everyone is more or les the same, so let&#8217;s find out who&#8217;s fastest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:43:00+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:43:00.481Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-51a27d0e-7adb-11f1-84c2-9fdefa82a125\">Veistroffer continues to ride really strongly &#8211; his average speed so far is nearly 45km\/h which is remarkable. He has just under three minutes in hand as he nears the intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:29:52+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:29:52.503Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7c0af352-7ad9-11f1-aee9-17d298b8c8be\">The gap is starting to come down now, it&#8217;s 2:50.<\/p>\n<p>The intermediate sprint is in 15km, and obviously with only one rider out front there are a fair number of points still up for grabs for the bunch, so we&#8217;ll see a proper sprint there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:25:38+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:25:38.603Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"is-cavendish-s-stage-win-record-at-risk-2\">Is Cavendish&#8217;s stage win record at risk?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-e49b3298-7ad8-11f1-968d-bd19f0d145c7\">A few years ago, a stage like this would have been a big Mark Cavendish day, and we might have been talking about the stage win record he spent the last few years of his career chasing.<\/p>\n<p>Now, that record has come up again recently, but it&#8217;s not a fellow sprinter who is at risk of breaking it. No, it&#8217;s Tadej Poga\u010dar who is being spoken about as the potential next rider to win 34, 35 or 36 stages. He&#8217;s currently the most successful current rider, with 22 wins, the most recent one recorded on Monday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e49b3298-7ad8-11f1-968d-bd19f0d145c7-2\">But can he make it 36 before his career ends? We took a bit of a closer look at the numbers, his current win rate and a projection for when he could break it. Complete with fancy graphs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will Tadej Poga\u010dar beat Mark Cavendish&#8217;s Tour de France stage wins record? Crunching the numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:20:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:20:18.410Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-70km-to-go\"><span>70km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-25b93aa0-7ad8-11f1-b691-1b5573df5d95\">We&#8217;re in the build up to the build up to the sprint&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not really hotting up yet, but Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech are both massed at the front, chatting tactics and just generally exerting their authority on this race. Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen are definitely the two big favourites, two of the purest and fastest sprinters in this bunch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:11:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:11:51.520Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-f784209c-7ad6-11f1-abf9-1904a784c326\">Vic-en-Bigorre, by the way, is home to one of the best weekend markets you&#8217;ll see in southern France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:06:56+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:06:56.185Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-s-coming-up-2\">What&#8217;s coming up<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-47a0fd08-7ad6-11f1-ac01-6b7db9af2f32\">There are a couple of points of interest in the final 50km, with an intermediate sprint in Vic-en-Bigorre with 45km to go, followed by the day&#8217;s only climb, the category-3 C\u00f4te de Baleix (1km at 8.8%) with 25km to go. The intermediate sprint will provide something of a preview of the real thing, with most likely to be keen for the green jersey points on offer, but perhaps cautious about really opening the taps and dulling the legs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:01:24+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:01:24.859Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-82133af6-7ad5-11f1-b800-756a2d100cc0\">Not a huge amount happening in the race right now. Just water bottles, a lot of water bottles. There are soigneurs regularly placed along the road, and riders are regularly going back to team cars for bottles and ice to try and stay cool. The peloton have just had a nature break, and our leader continues to plough his lonely furrow through the Pyrenean furnace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:53:44+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:53:44.476Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"boring-2\">Boring?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-6f92ee54-7ad4-11f1-82d2-1b0d49220ddd\">We&#8217;ve gone slightly off-piste here but a surprisingly vigorous debate was sparked in the CN Slack channel this morning, when we were (presciently) discussing whether stages like this are boring, or whether pure sprinters still have a place in the modern Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p>One colleague suddenly suggested that sprint stages are better than mountain stages these days, and it all kicked off from there&#8230; Check out the piece below for some wild takes and the chance to have your say.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-6f92ee54-7ad4-11f1-82d2-1b0d49220ddd-2\"><strong>Sprints underrated, mountains overrated? We just had a huge debate about which Tour de France stages are more exciting, and want to know your thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:42:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:42:29.470Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-dd38ac84-7ad2-11f1-a4e2-d196d7b8e4b5\">Philipsen and Merlier are the two favourites today and their teams are taking responsibility.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-dd38ad24-7ad2-11f1-a2e6-7fbf9be5edfa\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:34:34+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:34:34.110Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-100km-remaining\"><span>100km remaining<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-c203fdde-7ad1-11f1-b5e1-d79ba7b0f44f\">So, 100 to go and to bring you up to speed we have a lone leader, Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9), with a lead of 2:45 over the peloton, which is being led by Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:24:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:24:10.366Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"no-de-lie-2\">No De Lie<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-4e2d6338-7ad0-11f1-9ae3-01818ef4dd13\">Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 may not ordinarily chuck a rider up the road on a day like today, but their sprinter Arnaud De Lie is already at home, abandoning the race on stage 3. The Belgian is blighted by bad luck these days and just like at the Giro he fell ill ahead of the Tour and failed to recover.<\/p>\n<p>Veistroffer was in fact tasked with dropping back to help De Lie at the very back of the race amid his suffering on stage 3. De Lie actually told Veistroffer to go ahead and leave him towards the end of the stage, as the time cut loomed, and De Lie eventually climbed off only a few kilometres from the finish.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4e2d6338-7ad0-11f1-9ae3-01818ef4dd13-2\"><strong>Arnaud De Lie out of Tour de France after brutal day of suffering<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:13:14+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:13:14.890Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c8096910-7ace-11f1-99cd-b1bee9428dc7\">Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech have taken over from Uno-X at the head of the peloton, the sprint teams getting involved early and even taking the gap to the lone escapee down to 2:30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:02:28+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:02:28.183Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"three-minutes-only-2\">&#8220;Three minutes only?!&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-45ece070-7acd-11f1-931d-8d8377327647\">Veistroffer pulls up alongside his team car and we can just about make out what they&#8217;re saying.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Three minutes only? With one guy in front?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-45ece070-7acd-11f1-931d-8d8377327647-2\">Our solo leader is clearly non-plussed by the short leash he&#8217;s being kept on by the peloton. As he points out, he&#8217;s one lone rider against an army. Back in the day double-digits would be a common gap for a breakaway of several riders, but these days teams don&#8217;t want to ramp up the chase later on, preferring a steadier spread of energy. It is slightly ridiculous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:44:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:44:51.033Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-cfda8ff6-7aca-11f1-9fc4-0f6dbde09276\">A first shot of our breakaway hero, Baptiste Veistroffer.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-cfda9064-7aca-11f1-8ddb-a92c4cd9a507\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:39:31+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:39:31.601Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"uno-x-controlling-2\">Uno-X controlling<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-117f8714-7aca-11f1-8a21-f54b33ae2c00\">The gap reaches the three-minute mark after around 15km of racing and that&#8217;s the cue for the peloton to start picking up the pace to control this eminently controllable breakaway.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s Uno-X on the front, fulfilling their duties as the team with the yellow jersey. Torsten Tr\u00e6en is the man in yellow, the Norwegian taking the jersey from Tadej Poga\u010dar thanks to his presence in yesterday&#8217;s big break.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-117f8714-7aca-11f1-8a21-f54b33ae2c00-2\"><strong>More on what this means for Tr\u00e6en and his team here in this article from Stephen Farrand<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:32:30+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:32:30.109Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-dying-art-2\">A dying art<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-163144d8-7ac9-11f1-b918-95d438566338\">Breakaways are a dying art in the modern peloton on stages such as these. We have even seen a couple of Tour stages take place with no breakaway whatsoever in recent years, so at least we have one man out front today.<\/p>\n<p>The heat will no doubt be a factor, with few riders wanting to exert themselves in temperatures that are bordering on the dangerous anyway. But doomed breakaways on sprint stages have long been trending down. Usually you could rely on the wildcard invited teams, for whom it would be a sort of de facto pact with ASO to animate the race and justify their inclusion. But there are only two wildcards now, and even they are now more than publicity seekers, with proper sprint ambitions in their own right \u2013 Caja Rural have Fernando Gaviria here.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-163144d8-7ac9-11f1-b918-95d438566338-2\">It&#8217;s upending the rhythms of the Tour de France and is perhaps a vicious circle \u2013 days like what we have here now may only encourage the organisers to lean even further away from pan-flat terrain in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:22:16+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:22:16.663Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-breakaway-is-formed\"><span>Breakaway is formed<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-a8851cd0-7ac7-11f1-b8ec-9559edfd765f\">That&#8217;s it, then. Veistroffer pings off, no one else registers even the most remote of interests in going along with him. It&#8217;s a one-man Tour de France breakaway formed in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:18:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:18:11.738Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-1686f4ac-7ac7-11f1-99ca-495a1bafda97\">Immediate attack from Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:17:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:17:29.750Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-kilometre-zero\"><span>Kilometre-zero<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-fee9beec-7ac6-11f1-a3f1-f91a2eae1e90\">We reach kilometre-zero, race director Christian Prudhomme rises from the sunroof of his red Skoda, waves his yellow flag, and we are underway on stage 5 of the Tour de France!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:16:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:16:11.337Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"contenders-2\">Contenders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-cec5e3bc-7ac6-11f1-bcf4-d7dbecf1c202\">We&#8217;ve mentioned <strong>Jasper Philipsen <\/strong>(Alpecin-Premier Tech) and the Belgian is the top Tour de France sprinter of recent years, with 10 stages to his name already. With a strong lead-out train that includes Mathieu van der Poel, he&#8217;s a hot favourite.<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen&#8217;s closest rival in recent years has been his fellow Belgian, <strong>Tim Merlier <\/strong>(Soudal-QuickStep), who bagged two stages last year. He had a disrupted start to the season but has six wins to his name already and looks back to his best.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-cec5e3bc-7ac6-11f1-bcf4-d7dbecf1c202-2\"><strong>Olav Kooij <\/strong>(Decathlon CMA CGM) also had a disrupted season start, and his very presence was doubted when Paul Seixas shot through the roof and revolutionised the team&#8217;s plans for the Tour. But Kooij, finally riding his first Tour after years of limited opportunities at Visma, proved himself with three wins in two build-up races.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biniam Girmay <\/strong>(NSN) won the green jersey two years ago and though he didn&#8217;t win a single race in 2025, he&#8217;s looking more like his old self again these days.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t count out <strong>Mads Pedersen<\/strong> (Lidl-Trek), who won from the breakaway yesterday but can more than hold his own in bunch kicks.<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty more names who could also spring a surprise, so we should be in for a competitive and exciting sprint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:08:31+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:08:31.865Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-bcf74ee2-7ac5-11f1-a884-1f2464612a67\">The riders are rolling. They&#8217;ll make their way through a short neutral zone before the stage is waved underway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:04:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:04:18.180Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-25bc90e6-7ac5-11f1-87ba-01a6f9e78dc3\">Pau is a Tour de France staple, this being the 77th time the Tour will visit. Only Paris and Bordeaux have welcomed the Tour on more occasions. It&#8217;s often seen as the gateway to the Pyrenees, so has a key strategic location, all the infrastructure you need to host a finish and start (tomorrow), plus a really strong enthusiasm for cycling and the Tour within the local council.<\/p>\n<p>We had a year off last year, so the last visit to Pau was in 2024 when a certain Jasper Philipsen was victorious. The Belgian is among the top favourites again today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:53:03+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:53:03.056Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-934eb5fa-7ac3-11f1-984f-8d8a50595f90\">The roll-out is coming up at 14:05 local time, with the race set to properly get underway at 14:15 \u2013 so in around 25 minutes from now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:51:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:51:43.620Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63ecda12-7ac3-11f1-9e73-31f1bf1a213a\">This is the scene at the start in Lannemezan, where the riders are currently signing on for today&#8217;s stage<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-63ecda76-7ac3-11f1-9b27-05420ce3b83f\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:45:45+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:45:45.533Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"welcome-and-preamble-2\">Welcome and preamble<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-833cf3d6-7ac1-11f1-a70d-e3de5a9b03fd\">Hello there and welcome along as we head deeper into the Tour de France and towards what is expected to be our first bunch sprint of the 2026 edition.<\/p>\n<p>There was a time when the opening week was littered with flat stages, but this year the fast finishers have had to through what have essentially been three GC days and a breakaway day \u2013 not to mention a heatwave \u2013 before finally finding terrain suited to them.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-833cf3d6-7ac1-11f1-a70d-e3de5a9b03fd-2\">The Tour is trending away from traditional bunch kicks and there aren&#8217;t ample opportunities on the 2026 route so all the big-name sprinters will be eager not to let this opportunity pass by.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few lumps and bumps on this 158km stage, but nothing that is realistically going to trouble the sprinters, so expect a battle royale on the streets of Pau, which is the third-most-visited city in Tour de France history. Oh, and it&#8217;s another scorcher in the south of France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"relative max-w-[1070px] viafoura-twig-component mt-6\" data-component-name=\"Viafoura:Comments\" data-nosnippet data-community-guidelines-text=\"&lt;p class=&apos;vfcustom-community-guidelines&apos;&gt;Please follow our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/about\/#section-community-guidelines&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;community guidelines&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;\" data-join-the-conversation-text=\"Join the Conversation\">\n<div class=\"absolute top-0 left-0 w-full h-full flex items-center justify-center z-50 bg-white\/90 border-1 rounded-b-[var(--comment-widget-border-radius,0)]\">\n<div class=\"p-2 text-center\">\n<p class=\"mb-3 text-lg!\">You must confirm your public display name before commenting<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-3 text-sm!\">Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"widgetArea17\" class=\"widget-area md:basis-1\/3 widget-area-g-md-vp-1-3 widget-area-g-lg-vp-1-3 widget-area-g-xl-vp-1-3 page-widget-area-17\">\n<div data-widget-type=\"dynamic\" id=\"mostpopular\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-dynamic widget-mostpopular widget-dynamic-mostpopular widget-dynamic-fter-popular-box\">\n<div class=\"wdn-fte-pb pos-relative space-t20\n\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-popularBox\" class=\"slice-container popular-box-slice popularBox slice-container-popularBox\">\n<section data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"popular-box\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__label\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__label__tab popular-box__label__tab--active\" role=\"heading\">LATEST ARTICLES<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ol class=\"popular-box__articles-list popular-box__articles-list--active\">\n<li class=\"popular-box__article-list\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__container\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__image-wrapper\">\n<div><source class=\"popular-box__article-list__image image__image\" type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4-320-80.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4-640-80.jpg.webp 640w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4-720-80.jpg.webp 720w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4-1280-80.jpg.webp 1280w\" sizes=\"99vw\" data-normal=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4.jpg\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/myRfrtXmEJ6za5ZmAWaEF4.jpg\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-slice-image=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__content\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__number-text\">1<\/div>\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__heading\">&#8216;Probably the lightest I&#8217;ve ever seen him&#8217; \u2013 Red Bull full of confidence in extremely lean Remco Evenepoel ahead of first Tour de France mountain stage<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-box__article-list\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__container\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__content\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__number-text\">2<\/div>\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__heading\">&#8216;We&#8217;re confident&#8217;- Decathlon CMA CGM shrug off rival bids to sign Tour de France super talent Paul Seixas<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-box__article-list\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__container\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__content\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__number-text\">3<\/div>\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__heading\">Jonas Vingegaard avoids Tour de France disaster, scrambles to finish on teammate&#8217;s bike after late crash<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-box__article-list\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__container\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__content\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__number-text\">4<\/div>\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__heading\">Tour de France: Olav Kooij shines in debut with victory on stage 5 in Pau<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"popular-box__article-list\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__container\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__content\">\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__number-text\">5<\/div>\n<div class=\"popular-box__article-list__heading\">Sprints underrated, mountains overrated? We just had a huge debate about which Tour de France stages are more exciting, and want to know your thoughts<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div data-widget-type=\"hero\" id=\"hero\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-hero widget-hero widget-hero-hero hero-live news-article widget-hero widget-hero-fter-review\">\n<div data-component-name=\"Article:Hero\" class=\"news-article\">\n<div class=\"header-container\">\n<nav class=\"breadcrumb\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\">\n<ol>\n<li>\nPro Cycling\n<\/li>\n<li>\nRacing\n<\/li>\n<li>\nRoad\n<\/li>\n<li>\nTour de France\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<header>\n<div class=\"header-sub-container\">\n<h1 class=\"review-title-long live-report\">As it happened: First bunch sprint of Tour de France ends with a dominant win after chaotic run-in<\/h1>\n<h2>All the action on a flat stage that&#8217;s expected to produce the first bunch sprint of the 2026 edition<br \/>\n<\/h2>\n<div class=\"vds-byline-block flex flex-row flex-nowrap my-1.5 gap-2 text-left items-start justify-start\" data-component-name=\"Article:BylineBlock\">\n<p>Live-reports<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-auto vds-simple-byline\"><span class=\"inline-block vds-author\"><br \/>\nBy<br \/>\nPatrick Fletcher <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex gap-1 vds-byline-with-avatar__meta\"><span class=\"vds-date block font-normal tracking-normal normal-case text-xs\"><br \/>\nLast updated<br \/>\n<time data-component-name=\"UI:DateTime\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:12:59Z\" class=\"relative-date\"><br \/>\n8 July 2026<br \/>\n<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<nav class=\"socialite-widget box less-space \" data-contexturl=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/live\/tour-de-france-stage-5-live\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"socialite\">\n<ul class=\"socialite-widget-ul\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-facebook\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-twitter\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-pinterest\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-email\"><\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"text-[color:var(--comment-count-text-color,inherit)]\"><span>2<\/span><span class=\"visible hidden sm:inline-block\">Comments<\/span><\/span><span class=\"text-[color:var(--comment-count-text-color,inherit)] hidden visible sm:inline-block\">Join the conversation<\/span><\/nav>\n<aside class=\"text-gray-700 flex items-center mx-0 my-5 p-0 justify-start text-left\" id=\"affiliate-disclaimer\" data-component-name=\"AffiliateDisclaimer\" data-hawk-message=\"Affiliate disclaimer removed because hawk deemed there are no affiliate links on this page\">\n<p class=\"text-[color:var(--affiliate-disclaimer--text-color,inherit)] mb-2 text-[length:var(--affiliate-disclaimer--font-size,0.75rem)] leading-[18px] md:text-[13px] [&amp;&gt;a]:text-inherit [&amp;&gt;a]:underline\">\nWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here\u2019s how it works.\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<figure>\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1920-80.jpg.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1600-80.jpg.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-750-80.jpg.webp 750w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"font-article-copy text-(--image--text--color) font-article-copy mt-2\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: \u00a9 Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component-name=\"Article:Hero\" class=\"news-article\">\n<div class=\"header-container\">\n<nav class=\"breadcrumb\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\">\n<ol>\n<li>\nPro Cycling\n<\/li>\n<li>\nRacing\n<\/li>\n<li>\nRoad\n<\/li>\n<li>\nTour de France\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<header>\n<div class=\"header-sub-container\">\n<h1 class=\"review-title-long live-report\">As it happened: First bunch sprint of Tour de France ends with a dominant win after chaotic run-in<\/h1>\n<h2>All the action on a flat stage that&#8217;s expected to produce the first bunch sprint of the 2026 edition<br \/>\n<\/h2>\n<div class=\"vds-byline-block flex flex-row flex-nowrap my-1.5 gap-2 text-left items-start justify-start\" data-component-name=\"Article:BylineBlock\">\n<p>Live-reports<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-auto vds-simple-byline\"><span class=\"inline-block vds-author\"><br \/>\nBy<br \/>\nPatrick Fletcher <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex gap-1 vds-byline-with-avatar__meta\"><span class=\"vds-date block font-normal tracking-normal normal-case text-xs\"><br \/>\nLast updated<br \/>\n<time data-component-name=\"UI:DateTime\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:12:59Z\" class=\"relative-date\"><br \/>\n8 July 2026<br \/>\n<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<nav class=\"socialite-widget box less-space \" data-contexturl=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/live\/tour-de-france-stage-5-live\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"socialite\">\n<ul class=\"socialite-widget-ul\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-facebook\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-twitter\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-pinterest\">\n<li class=\"socialite-widget-item social-email\"><\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"text-[color:var(--comment-count-text-color,inherit)]\"><span>2<\/span><span class=\"visible hidden sm:inline-block\">Comments<\/span><\/span><span class=\"text-[color:var(--comment-count-text-color,inherit)] hidden visible sm:inline-block\">Join the conversation<\/span><\/nav>\n<aside class=\"text-gray-700 flex items-center mx-0 my-5 p-0 justify-start text-left\" id=\"affiliate-disclaimer\" data-component-name=\"AffiliateDisclaimer\" data-hawk-message=\"Affiliate disclaimer removed because hawk deemed there are no affiliate links on this page\">\n<p class=\"text-[color:var(--affiliate-disclaimer--text-color,inherit)] mb-2 text-[length:var(--affiliate-disclaimer--font-size,0.75rem)] leading-[18px] md:text-[13px] [&amp;&gt;a]:text-inherit [&amp;&gt;a]:underline\">\nWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here\u2019s how it works.\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<figure>\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1920-80.jpg.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1600-80.jpg.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-750-80.jpg.webp 750w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"font-article-copy text-(--image--text--color) font-article-copy mt-2\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: \u00a9 Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-widget-type=\"contentparsed\" id=\"pinned-content\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-contentparsed widget-pinned-content widget-contentparsed-pinned-content widget-pinned news-article widget-content-parsed widget-content-parsed-default widget-content-parsed-live-feed \">\n<div class=\" article-body \">\n<div class><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8330771e-7ac1-11f1-baab-195e62bd293d\"><strong>2026 Tour de France &#8211; Everything you need to know<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 Tour de France &#8211; Route<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8330771e-7ac1-11f1-baab-195e62bd293d-2\"><strong>2026 Tour de France &#8211; Contenders<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 Tour de France stage 5 &#8211; Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Watch the 2026 Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-83307782-7ac1-11f1-b775-b1b799e3d1e5\"><strong>The world\u2019s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-situation\"><span>Situation<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-rDu3iM89u1WAOpWTWCZzmhRMHdQC6oOP\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-rDu3iM89u1WAOpWTWCZzmhRMHdQC6oOP slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Stage 5 top 10<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3:29:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 1 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 2 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 3 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 5 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 6 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 7 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 8 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 9 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 10 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 11 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>13<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Cl\u00e9ment Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 12 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>14<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 13 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>15<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 14 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-widget-type=\"contentparsed\" id=\"live-feed-multipage\" class=\"clear-both widget widget-contentparsed widget-live-feed-multipage widget-contentparsed-live-feed-multipage news-article widget-content-parsed widget-content-parsed-default multipage widget-content-parsed-live-feed \">\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\" article-body \">\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:12:59+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:12:59.301Z<\/time><\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DHQYNx8Dh1pfHOTZqb8EpkPALyojHuBU\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DHQYNx8Dh1pfHOTZqb8EpkPALyojHuBU slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">General classification top 10 after stage 5<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Torstein Tr\u00e6en (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>16:32:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:00:28<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:03:50<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tadej Poga\u010dar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:07:53<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Ramses Debruyne (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:06<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:16<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:17<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:20<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:41<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:10:17+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:10:17.889Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-836f8e42-7ae7-11f1-b836-537412389778\"><strong>No change on GC<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No dramas in the end. Poga\u010dar led home the second group on the road, 14 seconds behind the 20-strong group that contested the sprint, but there were no GC men up there. There was a scare for Vingegaard and Traaen, who were scrambling to the line quite far behind the back of the Poga\u010dar group. Measured in pure time, there was a fair old gap, but there were enough riders coming across the line that no actual gap could be recorded between any of those mini clusters of riders, meaning all the GC men finished on the same time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:06:33+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:06:33.142Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"results-2\">Results<\/h2>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DKucb8tJ3GvC9LKu38OAPVO2Qxv5q2uy\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DKucb8tJ3GvC9LKu38OAPVO2Qxv5q2uy slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Stage 5 top 10<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3:29:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 1 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 2 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 3 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 5 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 6 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 7 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 8 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 9 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 10 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 11 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>13<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Cl\u00e9ment Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 12 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>14<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 13 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>15<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 14 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:57:33+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:57:33.471Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-bbd36f3a-7ae5-11f1-9886-8b438e65790f\"><strong>Let&#8217;s hear from the winner, Olav Kooij<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After a couple hard days here already, we had to wait to this day to get this first chance to sprint in the Tour, and yeah, to immediately win is unbelievable. It means quite a lot. I think just in general, 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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think to be here with support of the team today was all I could ask for, and yeah, they did a great job, but it was pretty hectic. It was quite an easy day until the final, so then you know it will be hectic. And this first sprint in the Tour, everyone is still really eager. I just 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 as I could.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:55:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:55:51.699Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7f39743e-7ae5-11f1-9a4d-015d51f8d480\"><strong>GC damage?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re just waiting on the timings to come in, to assess whether any gaps were handed out. Tadej Poga\u010dar came home among a main bunch that&#8217;s been classed as 14 seconds down on the small group that contested the sprint finish. Traaen was held up so we&#8217;ll see if he has lost any time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:54:52+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:54:52.201Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-5ba33014-7ae5-11f1-9787-d7fcf75e8e64\">Brilliant sprint from Kooij, who remained calm through all that chaos, hitting out at the perfect time from the perfect position, and his acceleration was devastating. Merlier had speed at the end but started from too far back, while Philipsen had to settle for 5th, ahead of Girmay and Pedersen. Great rides from Kanter in second and Artz in fourth for a Lotto who&#8217;ve lost De Lie, but that was pretty emphatic stuff from Kooij.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:51:59+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:51:59.017Z<\/time><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-f46c6190-7ae4-11f1-b4a6-69b663670f0c\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:50:13+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:50:13.068Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b5534e2e-7ae4-11f1-ae0c-cba984c87bc3\">Kanter was second and Merlier came through for third just ahead of Huub Artz from Lotto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:47:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:47:29.375Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-53a12d36-7ae4-11f1-a16f-f5f653ea31b9\"><strong>Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) wins stage 5 of the Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:47:14+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:47:14.537Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4b0991ea-7ae4-11f1-afa3-a7f32cbf48f6\">Kooij hits out and gets out in front&#8230; and takes it!!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:57+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:57.155Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-409b4712-7ae4-11f1-a68d-1788138285ef\">It&#8217;s splitting still and oinly around 20 riders remain to sprint it out!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:44+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:44.688Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-38fa69ca-7ae4-11f1-ad18-b58a6fbbbcf0\">Into the final kilometre and its Astana and COfidis with the front positions, not what we expected at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:26+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:26.059Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2de1ad64-7ae4-11f1-847b-91119855f153\">Astana move up and it&#8217;s a flyer, but Alpecin are chaseing it down with one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:45+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:45.840Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-15faf6a6-7ae4-11f1-89f5-1167a3924a3a\">Cofidis still have Frentin being piloted. It&#8217;s scrappy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:25+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:25.660Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-09e179c6-7ae4-11f1-b2c1-cfb434b47d4a\">2km to go and Uno-X still have the front. NSN just behind with Askey ahead of Girmay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:07+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:07.814Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ff45f4c4-7ae3-11f1-8324-b3a3819d30b8\">Roundabout now and we have another crash, just one rider from Cofidis sent into the grass after a touch of shouolders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:44:26+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:44:26.060Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e66f2b32-7ae3-11f1-a637-cb2e9d810647\">Yellow jersey not in the front group! Race leader Torsten Traeen has been chopped by that split, as his own team drill it at the front of the race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:54+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:54.905Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-d3d12322-7ae3-11f1-9ad0-8118547bb40c\">Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural) was the one who crashed most heavily. BUt the race goes on and Uno-X are happemring it on the front with 3.5km to go<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:21+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:21.842Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c012889e-7ae3-11f1-b907-771231649b12\">That incident has caused a split in the peloton, as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:06+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:06.163Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-5km-to-go\"><span>5km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-b6d92940-7ae3-11f1-9dcc-f9a570d84133\">That crash was just outside the 5km to go banner, so outside of the safety net for any time losses. Let&#8217;s see who crashed. QuickStep had three riders involved but none were Merlier it seems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:42:02+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:42:02.016Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-90856df8-7ae3-11f1-8c35-61823e758bc0\">Crash! Right-hand bend and several riders have gone down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:41:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:41:20.126Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7783e834-7ae3-11f1-88c4-910ac790398f\">Alpecin are a bit further back and QuickStep have vanished from view.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:40:46+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:40:46.898Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63e6c04e-7ae3-11f1-8e37-2dbebf3fc98e\">Cofidis, working for Milan Frentin, are dominating this now with 7km to go. But now Uno-X are moving up on their shoulders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:40:17+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:40:17.211Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-5232cdde-7ae3-11f1-a697-478defe30ce2\">Ineos have Dorian Godon as an outsider who&#8217;s more of a hilly sprinter but has had a great season so far. They certainly don&#8217;t have a big GC card to keep safe as they used to do in sprints.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:39:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:39:10.078Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2a21fe14-7ae3-11f1-b975-bd1e370035b6\">Cofidis have set up on the left, Ineos on the right. Tudor and Uno-X also have presence in the middle, so it&#8217;s not the big sprint trains dominating just yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:38:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:38:29.912Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-120cec6c-7ae3-11f1-baa3-5dc622e197db\">These are the final 5km. It&#8217;s ever so slightly false flat down all the way to the final kilometre. We have a corner with 500m to go, which could be crucial.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-120cecd0-7ae3-11f1-9ab0-d7364cbee02d\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: ASO)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:37:47+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:37:47.181Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-10km-to-go\"><span>10km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-f8bce686-7ae2-11f1-98c0-6fd9407be4be\">10 to go and we&#8217;ve just gone down a mini descent with a couple of sweeping bends. The pace is high and they&#8217;re freewheeling, and it&#8217;s not going to slow up now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:34:50+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:34:50.414Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-reminder-of-the-main-contenders-2\">A reminder of the main contenders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-8f50de8c-7ae2-11f1-9d20-eb306136ed3f\">We&#8217;ve mentioned <strong>Jasper Philipsen <\/strong>(Alpecin-Premier Tech) and the Belgian is the top Tour de France sprinter of recent years, with 10 stages to his name already. With a strong lead-out train that includes Mathieu van der Poel, he&#8217;s a hot favourite.<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen&#8217;s closest rival in recent years has been his fellow Belgian, <strong>Tim Merlier <\/strong>(Soudal-QuickStep), who bagged two stages last year. He had a disrupted start to the season but has six wins to his name already and looks back to his best.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8f50de8c-7ae2-11f1-9d20-eb306136ed3f-2\"><strong>Olav Kooij <\/strong>(Decathlon CMA CGM) also had a disrupted season start, and his very presence was doubted when Paul Seixas shot through the roof and revolutionised the team&#8217;s plans for the Tour. But Kooij, finally riding his first Tour after years of limited opportunities at Visma, proved himself with three wins in two build-up races.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biniam Girmay <\/strong>(NSN) won the green jersey two years ago and though he didn&#8217;t win a single race in 2025, he&#8217;s looking more like his old self again these days.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t count out <strong>Mads Pedersen<\/strong> (Lidl-Trek), who won from the breakaway yesterday but can more than hold his own in bunch kicks.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Who&#8217;s your pick? Vote in the poll just above<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:33:37+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:33:37.549Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63c93fe8-7ae2-11f1-8ae7-3d6791088c98\">And now we begin the wind-up to the sprint. All the main teams are getting organised with their trains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:32:58+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:32:58.318Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-all-together\"><span>All together!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-4c808076-7ae2-11f1-8fa1-ebc410f737a8\">Baptiste Veistroffer&#8217;s solo breakaway comes to an end, with 14km remaining. He was never going to make it but he put in one hell of a ride, animating this stage all on his own. The combativity prize will no doubt be his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:29:54+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:29:54.236Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-deac62b8-7ae1-11f1-9cb0-dba3535f4d4e\">Wright, Asgreen and Paret-Peintre are all back in the bunch again. QuickStep get back to the front. Veistroffer is only 10 seconds ahead with 16km to go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:29:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:29:20.393Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ca91de20-7ae1-11f1-986a-c521ebc9db83\">De Kleijn has been dropped again, this time on the flat. Definitely not his day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:28:34+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:28:34.053Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-aeecbef6-7ae1-11f1-913d-35948b87ccbe\">Fred Wright pulls up. The peloton are hot on the heels and he knows it&#8217;s no use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:26:38+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:26:38.221Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-69d6816c-7ae1-11f1-9d87-4f41b2fe8e81\">Arvid De Kleijn is back in the bunch. He was dropped on the climb, which does not bode well for his chances in today&#8217;s sprint finish. He&#8217;s been struggling so far in this Tour, but struggling with a sense of perspective.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;This suffering is nothing compared to what I saw&#8217; \u2013 With late father as inspiration, Arvid De Kleijn just beats time cut at Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:24:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:24:43.359Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2565e716-7ae1-11f1-9844-032442bb2046\">Veistroffer is flagging. The Wright\/Asgreen group is 20 seconds behind him now, the peloton a further 20 seconds back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:22:47+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:22:47.693Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e0750b78-7ae0-11f1-ab1b-35473506a7fb\">Paret-Peintre is just marking this one. QuickStep have Merlier as a sprint favourite and have been pulling all day. He won&#8217;t contribute here but his presence does allow QuickStep to sit back in the bunch now and coax other teams to the front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:21:41+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:21:41.658Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b910970a-7ae0-11f1-a54d-e592311730b3\">Wright has company in Kasper Asgreen (EF) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (QuickStep).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:21:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:21:18.059Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-attack\"><span>Attack!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-ab085bde-7ae0-11f1-a7b3-2f827f27a144\">Fred Wright was up there as Baudin accelerated for the KOM point and the British champ has basically turned this into an attack. It&#8217;s the longest of shots, 25km out, but it&#8217;s finally something to get excited about on this snoozy day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:20:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:20:11.780Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-83ad1426-7ae0-11f1-96ff-a54f0174b9e0\">The polka-dot mountains jersey is on the shoulders of Alex Baudin and his EF teammates set him up now as the peloton nears the summit. He duly takes the one remaining point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:19:30+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:19:30.129Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-6abc52d8-7ae0-11f1-aaa0-d1bcc7c823c2\">Veistroffer crests the climb alone with a lead of 50 seconds. He picks up two mountains classification points.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:18:04+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:18:04.249Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-day-s-only-climb-2\">The day&#8217;s only climb<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-377be212-7ae0-11f1-80fb-1b5ff7dd1966\">Veistroffer hits the C\u00f4te de Baleix, which is our only categorised climb today. It&#8217;s a cat-3 number, measuring 1km at 8.8%, so it&#8217;s short but still sting. 50 seconds the gap as our leader gets out of the saddle for the first real time since launching his breakaway-making attack at KM0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:16:27+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:16:27.111Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-fdaa3610-7adf-11f1-badf-113df99ac2ea\">Veistroffer, we are told, is known as the &#8216;Sanglier de Fouesnant&#8217; in his native France \u2013 that&#8217;s &#8216;the boar of Fousenant&#8217;, the latter being his hometown in Brittany. He&#8217;s 26 but this is only his second year as a pro, having previously competed in triathlon. He came through Decathlon&#8217;s development set-up before turning pro with Lotto last year. He&#8217;s a canny rider who loves an unlikely attack, pulling off a fine stage win at the Tour of Oman earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:07:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:07:20.106Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b797f46a-7ade-11f1-9dd1-d5a4fbe95d3c\">QuickStep have raised the pace now. 33km to go and they have six riders on the front, with the gap to Veistroffer dropping to around the 1:10 mark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:02:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:02:43.205Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-12b10f0e-7ade-11f1-8f2a-699156c65af1\">Pedersen is wearing the green jersey after his win yesterday but with 70 points on offer on the finish line, that&#8217;s where the green jersey battle will really ignite. Girmay is actually the only rider who could overhaul Pedersen today, but we should get a better sense of who&#8217;s capable of hauling in the points on these finishes.<\/p>\n<p>A reminder that the points system is different this year with bumper packages on offer on designated sprint stages, and a general recalibration of the intermediate sprints. More on that in the link below.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-12b10f0e-7ade-11f1-8f2a-699156c65af1-2\"><strong>An attempt to stop Tadej Poga\u010dar? Tour de France further adjusts green jersey points system to keep it sprinter-friendly<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:53:06+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:53:06.261Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-intermediate-sprint\"><span>Intermediate sprint<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-baa7b1ba-7adc-11f1-bd74-8fd98379393e\">An odd one, as XDS Astana launch the sprint and gap the rest of the bunch in the process. Their sprinter Max Kanter is first from the bunch, followed by Pedersen, Girmay, and, on the other side of the road, Philipsen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:50:15+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:50:15.015Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-45km-to-go\"><span>45km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-5481231c-7adc-11f1-bbff-6d02005ad05b\">Veistroffer passes through the intermediate sprint in Vic-en-Bigorre, collecting the maximum 25 points on offer, obviously uncontested. The real battle is coming from the bunch ina. couple of minutes&#8217; time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:48:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:48:10.834Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-0a8bafb6-7adc-11f1-845a-ada664bb936d\">Jonas Vingegaard has had some sort of issue and has had to drop back to his team car. He barks at a camera to get out the way and looks a tad stressed as he speeds back to the peloton, but no major dramas at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:46:07+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:46:07.519Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c0fe1956-7adb-11f1-85ae-83b6d9623508\"><strong>Let&#8217;s hear from Biniam Girmay, speaking at the start of today&#8217;s stage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately we had a crash yesterday with Jake Stewart so he will not be there in the final lead-out for me. It will cost us for sure. I think Alpecin have a good leadout and Merlier is also strong in this kind of finish. After four hard days everyone is more or les the same, so let&#8217;s find out who&#8217;s fastest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:43:00+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:43:00.481Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-51a27d0e-7adb-11f1-84c2-9fdefa82a125\">Veistroffer continues to ride really strongly &#8211; his average speed so far is nearly 45km\/h which is remarkable. He has just under three minutes in hand as he nears the intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:29:52+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:29:52.503Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7c0af352-7ad9-11f1-aee9-17d298b8c8be\">The gap is starting to come down now, it&#8217;s 2:50.<\/p>\n<p>The intermediate sprint is in 15km, and obviously with only one rider out front there are a fair number of points still up for grabs for the bunch, so we&#8217;ll see a proper sprint there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:25:38+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:25:38.603Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"is-cavendish-s-stage-win-record-at-risk-2\">Is Cavendish&#8217;s stage win record at risk?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-e49b3298-7ad8-11f1-968d-bd19f0d145c7\">A few years ago, a stage like this would have been a big Mark Cavendish day, and we might have been talking about the stage win record he spent the last few years of his career chasing.<\/p>\n<p>Now, that record has come up again recently, but it&#8217;s not a fellow sprinter who is at risk of breaking it. No, it&#8217;s Tadej Poga\u010dar who is being spoken about as the potential next rider to win 34, 35 or 36 stages. He&#8217;s currently the most successful current rider, with 22 wins, the most recent one recorded on Monday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e49b3298-7ad8-11f1-968d-bd19f0d145c7-2\">But can he make it 36 before his career ends? We took a bit of a closer look at the numbers, his current win rate and a projection for when he could break it. Complete with fancy graphs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will Tadej Poga\u010dar beat Mark Cavendish&#8217;s Tour de France stage wins record? Crunching the numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:20:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:20:18.410Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-70km-to-go\"><span>70km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-25b93aa0-7ad8-11f1-b691-1b5573df5d95\">We&#8217;re in the build up to the build up to the sprint&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not really hotting up yet, but Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech are both massed at the front, chatting tactics and just generally exerting their authority on this race. Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen are definitely the two big favourites, two of the purest and fastest sprinters in this bunch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:11:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:11:51.520Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-f784209c-7ad6-11f1-abf9-1904a784c326\">Vic-en-Bigorre, by the way, is home to one of the best weekend markets you&#8217;ll see in southern France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:06:56+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:06:56.185Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-s-coming-up-2\">What&#8217;s coming up<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-47a0fd08-7ad6-11f1-ac01-6b7db9af2f32\">There are a couple of points of interest in the final 50km, with an intermediate sprint in Vic-en-Bigorre with 45km to go, followed by the day&#8217;s only climb, the category-3 C\u00f4te de Baleix (1km at 8.8%) with 25km to go. The intermediate sprint will provide something of a preview of the real thing, with most likely to be keen for the green jersey points on offer, but perhaps cautious about really opening the taps and dulling the legs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:01:24+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:01:24.859Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-82133af6-7ad5-11f1-b800-756a2d100cc0\">Not a huge amount happening in the race right now. Just water bottles, a lot of water bottles. There are soigneurs regularly placed along the road, and riders are regularly going back to team cars for bottles and ice to try and stay cool. The peloton have just had a nature break, and our leader continues to plough his lonely furrow through the Pyrenean furnace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:53:44+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:53:44.476Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"boring-2\">Boring?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-6f92ee54-7ad4-11f1-82d2-1b0d49220ddd\">We&#8217;ve gone slightly off-piste here but a surprisingly vigorous debate was sparked in the CN Slack channel this morning, when we were (presciently) discussing whether stages like this are boring, or whether pure sprinters still have a place in the modern Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p>One colleague suddenly suggested that sprint stages are better than mountain stages these days, and it all kicked off from there&#8230; Check out the piece below for some wild takes and the chance to have your say.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-6f92ee54-7ad4-11f1-82d2-1b0d49220ddd-2\"><strong>Sprints underrated, mountains overrated? We just had a huge debate about which Tour de France stages are more exciting, and want to know your thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:42:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:42:29.470Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-dd38ac84-7ad2-11f1-a4e2-d196d7b8e4b5\">Philipsen and Merlier are the two favourites today and their teams are taking responsibility.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-dd38ad24-7ad2-11f1-a2e6-7fbf9be5edfa\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:34:34+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:34:34.110Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-100km-remaining\"><span>100km remaining<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-c203fdde-7ad1-11f1-b5e1-d79ba7b0f44f\">So, 100 to go and to bring you up to speed we have a lone leader, Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9), with a lead of 2:45 over the peloton, which is being led by Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:24:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:24:10.366Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"no-de-lie-2\">No De Lie<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-4e2d6338-7ad0-11f1-9ae3-01818ef4dd13\">Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 may not ordinarily chuck a rider up the road on a day like today, but their sprinter Arnaud De Lie is already at home, abandoning the race on stage 3. The Belgian is blighted by bad luck these days and just like at the Giro he fell ill ahead of the Tour and failed to recover.<\/p>\n<p>Veistroffer was in fact tasked with dropping back to help De Lie at the very back of the race amid his suffering on stage 3. De Lie actually told Veistroffer to go ahead and leave him towards the end of the stage, as the time cut loomed, and De Lie eventually climbed off only a few kilometres from the finish.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4e2d6338-7ad0-11f1-9ae3-01818ef4dd13-2\"><strong>Arnaud De Lie out of Tour de France after brutal day of suffering<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:13:14+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:13:14.890Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c8096910-7ace-11f1-99cd-b1bee9428dc7\">Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech have taken over from Uno-X at the head of the peloton, the sprint teams getting involved early and even taking the gap to the lone escapee down to 2:30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:02:28+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:02:28.183Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"three-minutes-only-2\">&#8220;Three minutes only?!&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-45ece070-7acd-11f1-931d-8d8377327647\">Veistroffer pulls up alongside his team car and we can just about make out what they&#8217;re saying.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Three minutes only? With one guy in front?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-45ece070-7acd-11f1-931d-8d8377327647-2\">Our solo leader is clearly non-plussed by the short leash he&#8217;s being kept on by the peloton. As he points out, he&#8217;s one lone rider against an army. Back in the day double-digits would be a common gap for a breakaway of several riders, but these days teams don&#8217;t want to ramp up the chase later on, preferring a steadier spread of energy. It is slightly ridiculous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:44:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:44:51.033Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-cfda8ff6-7aca-11f1-9fc4-0f6dbde09276\">A first shot of our breakaway hero, Baptiste Veistroffer.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-cfda9064-7aca-11f1-8ddb-a92c4cd9a507\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:39:31+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:39:31.601Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"uno-x-controlling-2\">Uno-X controlling<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-117f8714-7aca-11f1-8a21-f54b33ae2c00\">The gap reaches the three-minute mark after around 15km of racing and that&#8217;s the cue for the peloton to start picking up the pace to control this eminently controllable breakaway.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s Uno-X on the front, fulfilling their duties as the team with the yellow jersey. Torsten Tr\u00e6en is the man in yellow, the Norwegian taking the jersey from Tadej Poga\u010dar thanks to his presence in yesterday&#8217;s big break.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-117f8714-7aca-11f1-8a21-f54b33ae2c00-2\"><strong>More on what this means for Tr\u00e6en and his team here in this article from Stephen Farrand<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:32:30+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:32:30.109Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-dying-art-2\">A dying art<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-163144d8-7ac9-11f1-b918-95d438566338\">Breakaways are a dying art in the modern peloton on stages such as these. We have even seen a couple of Tour stages take place with no breakaway whatsoever in recent years, so at least we have one man out front today.<\/p>\n<p>The heat will no doubt be a factor, with few riders wanting to exert themselves in temperatures that are bordering on the dangerous anyway. But doomed breakaways on sprint stages have long been trending down. Usually you could rely on the wildcard invited teams, for whom it would be a sort of de facto pact with ASO to animate the race and justify their inclusion. But there are only two wildcards now, and even they are now more than publicity seekers, with proper sprint ambitions in their own right \u2013 Caja Rural have Fernando Gaviria here.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-163144d8-7ac9-11f1-b918-95d438566338-2\">It&#8217;s upending the rhythms of the Tour de France and is perhaps a vicious circle \u2013 days like what we have here now may only encourage the organisers to lean even further away from pan-flat terrain in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:22:16+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:22:16.663Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-breakaway-is-formed\"><span>Breakaway is formed<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-a8851cd0-7ac7-11f1-b8ec-9559edfd765f\">That&#8217;s it, then. Veistroffer pings off, no one else registers even the most remote of interests in going along with him. It&#8217;s a one-man Tour de France breakaway formed in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:18:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:18:11.738Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-1686f4ac-7ac7-11f1-99ca-495a1bafda97\">Immediate attack from Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:17:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:17:29.750Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-kilometre-zero\"><span>Kilometre-zero<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-fee9beec-7ac6-11f1-a3f1-f91a2eae1e90\">We reach kilometre-zero, race director Christian Prudhomme rises from the sunroof of his red Skoda, waves his yellow flag, and we are underway on stage 5 of the Tour de France!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:16:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:16:11.337Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"contenders-2\">Contenders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-cec5e3bc-7ac6-11f1-bcf4-d7dbecf1c202\">We&#8217;ve mentioned <strong>Jasper Philipsen <\/strong>(Alpecin-Premier Tech) and the Belgian is the top Tour de France sprinter of recent years, with 10 stages to his name already. With a strong lead-out train that includes Mathieu van der Poel, he&#8217;s a hot favourite.<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen&#8217;s closest rival in recent years has been his fellow Belgian, <strong>Tim Merlier <\/strong>(Soudal-QuickStep), who bagged two stages last year. He had a disrupted start to the season but has six wins to his name already and looks back to his best.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-cec5e3bc-7ac6-11f1-bcf4-d7dbecf1c202-2\"><strong>Olav Kooij <\/strong>(Decathlon CMA CGM) also had a disrupted season start, and his very presence was doubted when Paul Seixas shot through the roof and revolutionised the team&#8217;s plans for the Tour. But Kooij, finally riding his first Tour after years of limited opportunities at Visma, proved himself with three wins in two build-up races.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biniam Girmay <\/strong>(NSN) won the green jersey two years ago and though he didn&#8217;t win a single race in 2025, he&#8217;s looking more like his old self again these days.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t count out <strong>Mads Pedersen<\/strong> (Lidl-Trek), who won from the breakaway yesterday but can more than hold his own in bunch kicks.<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty more names who could also spring a surprise, so we should be in for a competitive and exciting sprint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:08:31+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:08:31.865Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-bcf74ee2-7ac5-11f1-a884-1f2464612a67\">The riders are rolling. They&#8217;ll make their way through a short neutral zone before the stage is waved underway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:04:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:04:18.180Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-25bc90e6-7ac5-11f1-87ba-01a6f9e78dc3\">Pau is a Tour de France staple, this being the 77th time the Tour will visit. Only Paris and Bordeaux have welcomed the Tour on more occasions. It&#8217;s often seen as the gateway to the Pyrenees, so has a key strategic location, all the infrastructure you need to host a finish and start (tomorrow), plus a really strong enthusiasm for cycling and the Tour within the local council.<\/p>\n<p>We had a year off last year, so the last visit to Pau was in 2024 when a certain Jasper Philipsen was victorious. The Belgian is among the top favourites again today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:53:03+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:53:03.056Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-934eb5fa-7ac3-11f1-984f-8d8a50595f90\">The roll-out is coming up at 14:05 local time, with the race set to properly get underway at 14:15 \u2013 so in around 25 minutes from now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:51:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:51:43.620Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63ecda12-7ac3-11f1-9e73-31f1bf1a213a\">This is the scene at the start in Lannemezan, where the riders are currently signing on for today&#8217;s stage<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-63ecda76-7ac3-11f1-9b27-05420ce3b83f\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:45:45+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:45:45.533Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"welcome-and-preamble-2\">Welcome and preamble<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-833cf3d6-7ac1-11f1-a70d-e3de5a9b03fd\">Hello there and welcome along as we head deeper into the Tour de France and towards what is expected to be our first bunch sprint of the 2026 edition.<\/p>\n<p>There was a time when the opening week was littered with flat stages, but this year the fast finishers have had to through what have essentially been three GC days and a breakaway day \u2013 not to mention a heatwave \u2013 before finally finding terrain suited to them.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-833cf3d6-7ac1-11f1-a70d-e3de5a9b03fd-2\">The Tour is trending away from traditional bunch kicks and there aren&#8217;t ample opportunities on the 2026 route so all the big-name sprinters will be eager not to let this opportunity pass by.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few lumps and bumps on this 158km stage, but nothing that is realistically going to trouble the sprinters, so expect a battle royale on the streets of Pau, which is the third-most-visited city in Tour de France history. Oh, and it&#8217;s another scorcher in the south of France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"relative max-w-[1070px] viafoura-twig-component mt-6\" data-component-name=\"Viafoura:Comments\" data-nosnippet data-community-guidelines-text=\"&lt;p class=&apos;vfcustom-community-guidelines&apos;&gt;Please follow our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/about\/#section-community-guidelines&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;community guidelines&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;\" data-join-the-conversation-text=\"Join the Conversation\">\n<div class=\"absolute top-0 left-0 w-full h-full flex items-center justify-center z-50 bg-white\/90 border-1 rounded-b-[var(--comment-widget-border-radius,0)]\">\n<div class=\"p-2 text-center\">\n<p class=\"mb-3 text-lg!\">You must confirm your public display name before commenting<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-3 text-sm!\">Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\" article-body \">\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:12:59+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:12:59.301Z<\/time><\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DHQYNx8Dh1pfHOTZqb8EpkPALyojHuBU\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DHQYNx8Dh1pfHOTZqb8EpkPALyojHuBU slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">General classification top 10 after stage 5<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Torstein Tr\u00e6en (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>16:32:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:00:28<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:03:50<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tadej Poga\u010dar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:07:53<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Ramses Debruyne (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:06<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:16<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:17<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:20<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>00:08:41<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:10:17+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:10:17.889Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-836f8e42-7ae7-11f1-b836-537412389778\"><strong>No change on GC<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No dramas in the end. Poga\u010dar led home the second group on the road, 14 seconds behind the 20-strong group that contested the sprint, but there were no GC men up there. There was a scare for Vingegaard and Traaen, who were scrambling to the line quite far behind the back of the Poga\u010dar group. Measured in pure time, there was a fair old gap, but there were enough riders coming across the line that no actual gap could be recorded between any of those mini clusters of riders, meaning all the GC men finished on the same time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T16:06:33+00:00\">2026-07-08T16:06:33.142Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"results-2\">Results<\/h2>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DKucb8tJ3GvC9LKu38OAPVO2Qxv5q2uy\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-y9C3uHABomJQPAvvz34ANR-DKucb8tJ3GvC9LKu38OAPVO2Qxv5q2uy slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Stage 5 top 10<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Place<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider (Country) Team<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Result<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Olav Kooij (Ned) Decathlon CMA CGM<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3:29:07<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 1 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 2 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Huub Artz (Ned) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 3 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 4 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 5 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 6 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 7 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 8 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>S\u00f8ren W\u00e6renskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 9 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 10 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Jayco-AlUla<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 11 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>13<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Cl\u00e9ment Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 12 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>14<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 13 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>15<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Row 14 &#8211; Cell 2 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:57:33+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:57:33.471Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-bbd36f3a-7ae5-11f1-9886-8b438e65790f\"><strong>Let&#8217;s hear from the winner, Olav Kooij<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After a couple hard days here already, we had to wait to this day to get this first chance to sprint in the Tour, and yeah, to immediately win is unbelievable. It means quite a lot. I think just in general, 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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think to be here with support of the team today was all I could ask for, and yeah, they did a great job, but it was pretty hectic. It was quite an easy day until the final, so then you know it will be hectic. And this first sprint in the Tour, everyone is still really eager. I just 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 as I could.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:55:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:55:51.699Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7f39743e-7ae5-11f1-9a4d-015d51f8d480\"><strong>GC damage?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re just waiting on the timings to come in, to assess whether any gaps were handed out. Tadej Poga\u010dar came home among a main bunch that&#8217;s been classed as 14 seconds down on the small group that contested the sprint finish. Traaen was held up so we&#8217;ll see if he has lost any time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:54:52+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:54:52.201Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-5ba33014-7ae5-11f1-9787-d7fcf75e8e64\">Brilliant sprint from Kooij, who remained calm through all that chaos, hitting out at the perfect time from the perfect position, and his acceleration was devastating. Merlier had speed at the end but started from too far back, while Philipsen had to settle for 5th, ahead of Girmay and Pedersen. Great rides from Kanter in second and Artz in fourth for a Lotto who&#8217;ve lost De Lie, but that was pretty emphatic stuff from Kooij.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:51:59+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:51:59.017Z<\/time><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-f46c6190-7ae4-11f1-b4a6-69b663670f0c\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/LhWdB94o7kqY5qjMEqGxik-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:50:13+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:50:13.068Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b5534e2e-7ae4-11f1-ae0c-cba984c87bc3\">Kanter was second and Merlier came through for third just ahead of Huub Artz from Lotto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:47:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:47:29.375Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-53a12d36-7ae4-11f1-a16f-f5f653ea31b9\"><strong>Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) wins stage 5 of the Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:47:14+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:47:14.537Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4b0991ea-7ae4-11f1-afa3-a7f32cbf48f6\">Kooij hits out and gets out in front&#8230; and takes it!!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:57+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:57.155Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-409b4712-7ae4-11f1-a68d-1788138285ef\">It&#8217;s splitting still and oinly around 20 riders remain to sprint it out!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:44+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:44.688Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-38fa69ca-7ae4-11f1-ad18-b58a6fbbbcf0\">Into the final kilometre and its Astana and COfidis with the front positions, not what we expected at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:46:26+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:46:26.059Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2de1ad64-7ae4-11f1-847b-91119855f153\">Astana move up and it&#8217;s a flyer, but Alpecin are chaseing it down with one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:45+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:45.840Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-15faf6a6-7ae4-11f1-89f5-1167a3924a3a\">Cofidis still have Frentin being piloted. It&#8217;s scrappy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:25+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:25.660Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-09e179c6-7ae4-11f1-b2c1-cfb434b47d4a\">2km to go and Uno-X still have the front. NSN just behind with Askey ahead of Girmay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:45:07+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:45:07.814Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ff45f4c4-7ae3-11f1-8324-b3a3819d30b8\">Roundabout now and we have another crash, just one rider from Cofidis sent into the grass after a touch of shouolders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:44:26+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:44:26.060Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e66f2b32-7ae3-11f1-a637-cb2e9d810647\">Yellow jersey not in the front group! Race leader Torsten Traeen has been chopped by that split, as his own team drill it at the front of the race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:54+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:54.905Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-d3d12322-7ae3-11f1-9ad0-8118547bb40c\">Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural) was the one who crashed most heavily. BUt the race goes on and Uno-X are happemring it on the front with 3.5km to go<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:21+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:21.842Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c012889e-7ae3-11f1-b907-771231649b12\">That incident has caused a split in the peloton, as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:43:06+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:43:06.163Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-5km-to-go\"><span>5km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-b6d92940-7ae3-11f1-9dcc-f9a570d84133\">That crash was just outside the 5km to go banner, so outside of the safety net for any time losses. Let&#8217;s see who crashed. QuickStep had three riders involved but none were Merlier it seems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:42:02+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:42:02.016Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-90856df8-7ae3-11f1-8c35-61823e758bc0\">Crash! Right-hand bend and several riders have gone down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:41:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:41:20.126Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7783e834-7ae3-11f1-88c4-910ac790398f\">Alpecin are a bit further back and QuickStep have vanished from view.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:40:46+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:40:46.898Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63e6c04e-7ae3-11f1-8e37-2dbebf3fc98e\">Cofidis, working for Milan Frentin, are dominating this now with 7km to go. But now Uno-X are moving up on their shoulders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:40:17+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:40:17.211Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-5232cdde-7ae3-11f1-a697-478defe30ce2\">Ineos have Dorian Godon as an outsider who&#8217;s more of a hilly sprinter but has had a great season so far. They certainly don&#8217;t have a big GC card to keep safe as they used to do in sprints.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:39:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:39:10.078Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2a21fe14-7ae3-11f1-b975-bd1e370035b6\">Cofidis have set up on the left, Ineos on the right. Tudor and Uno-X also have presence in the middle, so it&#8217;s not the big sprint trains dominating just yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:38:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:38:29.912Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-120cec6c-7ae3-11f1-baa3-5dc622e197db\">These are the final 5km. It&#8217;s ever so slightly false flat down all the way to the final kilometre. We have a corner with 500m to go, which could be crucial.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-120cecd0-7ae3-11f1-9ab0-d7364cbee02d\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-960-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/gNVsBStHDF6qNzpR98VZeU-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: ASO)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:37:47+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:37:47.181Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-10km-to-go\"><span>10km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-f8bce686-7ae2-11f1-98c0-6fd9407be4be\">10 to go and we&#8217;ve just gone down a mini descent with a couple of sweeping bends. The pace is high and they&#8217;re freewheeling, and it&#8217;s not going to slow up now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:34:50+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:34:50.414Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-reminder-of-the-main-contenders-2\">A reminder of the main contenders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-8f50de8c-7ae2-11f1-9d20-eb306136ed3f\">We&#8217;ve mentioned <strong>Jasper Philipsen <\/strong>(Alpecin-Premier Tech) and the Belgian is the top Tour de France sprinter of recent years, with 10 stages to his name already. With a strong lead-out train that includes Mathieu van der Poel, he&#8217;s a hot favourite.<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen&#8217;s closest rival in recent years has been his fellow Belgian, <strong>Tim Merlier <\/strong>(Soudal-QuickStep), who bagged two stages last year. He had a disrupted start to the season but has six wins to his name already and looks back to his best.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8f50de8c-7ae2-11f1-9d20-eb306136ed3f-2\"><strong>Olav Kooij <\/strong>(Decathlon CMA CGM) also had a disrupted season start, and his very presence was doubted when Paul Seixas shot through the roof and revolutionised the team&#8217;s plans for the Tour. But Kooij, finally riding his first Tour after years of limited opportunities at Visma, proved himself with three wins in two build-up races.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biniam Girmay <\/strong>(NSN) won the green jersey two years ago and though he didn&#8217;t win a single race in 2025, he&#8217;s looking more like his old self again these days.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t count out <strong>Mads Pedersen<\/strong> (Lidl-Trek), who won from the breakaway yesterday but can more than hold his own in bunch kicks.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Who&#8217;s your pick? Vote in the poll just above<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:33:37+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:33:37.549Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63c93fe8-7ae2-11f1-8ae7-3d6791088c98\">And now we begin the wind-up to the sprint. All the main teams are getting organised with their trains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:32:58+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:32:58.318Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-all-together\"><span>All together!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-4c808076-7ae2-11f1-8fa1-ebc410f737a8\">Baptiste Veistroffer&#8217;s solo breakaway comes to an end, with 14km remaining. He was never going to make it but he put in one hell of a ride, animating this stage all on his own. The combativity prize will no doubt be his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:29:54+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:29:54.236Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-deac62b8-7ae1-11f1-9cb0-dba3535f4d4e\">Wright, Asgreen and Paret-Peintre are all back in the bunch again. QuickStep get back to the front. Veistroffer is only 10 seconds ahead with 16km to go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:29:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:29:20.393Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-ca91de20-7ae1-11f1-986a-c521ebc9db83\">De Kleijn has been dropped again, this time on the flat. Definitely not his day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:28:34+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:28:34.053Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-aeecbef6-7ae1-11f1-913d-35948b87ccbe\">Fred Wright pulls up. The peloton are hot on the heels and he knows it&#8217;s no use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:26:38+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:26:38.221Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-69d6816c-7ae1-11f1-9d87-4f41b2fe8e81\">Arvid De Kleijn is back in the bunch. He was dropped on the climb, which does not bode well for his chances in today&#8217;s sprint finish. He&#8217;s been struggling so far in this Tour, but struggling with a sense of perspective.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;This suffering is nothing compared to what I saw&#8217; \u2013 With late father as inspiration, Arvid De Kleijn just beats time cut at Tour de France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:24:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:24:43.359Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-2565e716-7ae1-11f1-9844-032442bb2046\">Veistroffer is flagging. The Wright\/Asgreen group is 20 seconds behind him now, the peloton a further 20 seconds back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:22:47+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:22:47.693Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e0750b78-7ae0-11f1-ab1b-35473506a7fb\">Paret-Peintre is just marking this one. QuickStep have Merlier as a sprint favourite and have been pulling all day. He won&#8217;t contribute here but his presence does allow QuickStep to sit back in the bunch now and coax other teams to the front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:21:41+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:21:41.658Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b910970a-7ae0-11f1-a54d-e592311730b3\">Wright has company in Kasper Asgreen (EF) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (QuickStep).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:21:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:21:18.059Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-attack\"><span>Attack!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-ab085bde-7ae0-11f1-a7b3-2f827f27a144\">Fred Wright was up there as Baudin accelerated for the KOM point and the British champ has basically turned this into an attack. It&#8217;s the longest of shots, 25km out, but it&#8217;s finally something to get excited about on this snoozy day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:20:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:20:11.780Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-83ad1426-7ae0-11f1-96ff-a54f0174b9e0\">The polka-dot mountains jersey is on the shoulders of Alex Baudin and his EF teammates set him up now as the peloton nears the summit. He duly takes the one remaining point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:19:30+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:19:30.129Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-6abc52d8-7ae0-11f1-aaa0-d1bcc7c823c2\">Veistroffer crests the climb alone with a lead of 50 seconds. He picks up two mountains classification points.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:18:04+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:18:04.249Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-day-s-only-climb-2\">The day&#8217;s only climb<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-377be212-7ae0-11f1-80fb-1b5ff7dd1966\">Veistroffer hits the C\u00f4te de Baleix, which is our only categorised climb today. It&#8217;s a cat-3 number, measuring 1km at 8.8%, so it&#8217;s short but still sting. 50 seconds the gap as our leader gets out of the saddle for the first real time since launching his breakaway-making attack at KM0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:16:27+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:16:27.111Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-fdaa3610-7adf-11f1-badf-113df99ac2ea\">Veistroffer, we are told, is known as the &#8216;Sanglier de Fouesnant&#8217; in his native France \u2013 that&#8217;s &#8216;the boar of Fousenant&#8217;, the latter being his hometown in Brittany. He&#8217;s 26 but this is only his second year as a pro, having previously competed in triathlon. He came through Decathlon&#8217;s development set-up before turning pro with Lotto last year. He&#8217;s a canny rider who loves an unlikely attack, pulling off a fine stage win at the Tour of Oman earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:07:20+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:07:20.106Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-b797f46a-7ade-11f1-9dd1-d5a4fbe95d3c\">QuickStep have raised the pace now. 33km to go and they have six riders on the front, with the gap to Veistroffer dropping to around the 1:10 mark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T15:02:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T15:02:43.205Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-12b10f0e-7ade-11f1-8f2a-699156c65af1\">Pedersen is wearing the green jersey after his win yesterday but with 70 points on offer on the finish line, that&#8217;s where the green jersey battle will really ignite. Girmay is actually the only rider who could overhaul Pedersen today, but we should get a better sense of who&#8217;s capable of hauling in the points on these finishes.<\/p>\n<p>A reminder that the points system is different this year with bumper packages on offer on designated sprint stages, and a general recalibration of the intermediate sprints. More on that in the link below.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-12b10f0e-7ade-11f1-8f2a-699156c65af1-2\"><strong>An attempt to stop Tadej Poga\u010dar? Tour de France further adjusts green jersey points system to keep it sprinter-friendly<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:53:06+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:53:06.261Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-intermediate-sprint\"><span>Intermediate sprint<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-baa7b1ba-7adc-11f1-bd74-8fd98379393e\">An odd one, as XDS Astana launch the sprint and gap the rest of the bunch in the process. Their sprinter Max Kanter is first from the bunch, followed by Pedersen, Girmay, and, on the other side of the road, Philipsen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:50:15+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:50:15.015Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-45km-to-go\"><span>45km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-5481231c-7adc-11f1-bbff-6d02005ad05b\">Veistroffer passes through the intermediate sprint in Vic-en-Bigorre, collecting the maximum 25 points on offer, obviously uncontested. The real battle is coming from the bunch ina. couple of minutes&#8217; time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:48:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:48:10.834Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-0a8bafb6-7adc-11f1-845a-ada664bb936d\">Jonas Vingegaard has had some sort of issue and has had to drop back to his team car. He barks at a camera to get out the way and looks a tad stressed as he speeds back to the peloton, but no major dramas at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:46:07+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:46:07.519Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c0fe1956-7adb-11f1-85ae-83b6d9623508\"><strong>Let&#8217;s hear from Biniam Girmay, speaking at the start of today&#8217;s stage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately we had a crash yesterday with Jake Stewart so he will not be there in the final lead-out for me. It will cost us for sure. I think Alpecin have a good leadout and Merlier is also strong in this kind of finish. After four hard days everyone is more or les the same, so let&#8217;s find out who&#8217;s fastest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:43:00+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:43:00.481Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-51a27d0e-7adb-11f1-84c2-9fdefa82a125\">Veistroffer continues to ride really strongly &#8211; his average speed so far is nearly 45km\/h which is remarkable. He has just under three minutes in hand as he nears the intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:29:52+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:29:52.503Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-7c0af352-7ad9-11f1-aee9-17d298b8c8be\">The gap is starting to come down now, it&#8217;s 2:50.<\/p>\n<p>The intermediate sprint is in 15km, and obviously with only one rider out front there are a fair number of points still up for grabs for the bunch, so we&#8217;ll see a proper sprint there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:25:38+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:25:38.603Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"is-cavendish-s-stage-win-record-at-risk-2\">Is Cavendish&#8217;s stage win record at risk?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-e49b3298-7ad8-11f1-968d-bd19f0d145c7\">A few years ago, a stage like this would have been a big Mark Cavendish day, and we might have been talking about the stage win record he spent the last few years of his career chasing.<\/p>\n<p>Now, that record has come up again recently, but it&#8217;s not a fellow sprinter who is at risk of breaking it. No, it&#8217;s Tadej Poga\u010dar who is being spoken about as the potential next rider to win 34, 35 or 36 stages. He&#8217;s currently the most successful current rider, with 22 wins, the most recent one recorded on Monday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-e49b3298-7ad8-11f1-968d-bd19f0d145c7-2\">But can he make it 36 before his career ends? We took a bit of a closer look at the numbers, his current win rate and a projection for when he could break it. Complete with fancy graphs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will Tadej Poga\u010dar beat Mark Cavendish&#8217;s Tour de France stage wins record? Crunching the numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:20:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:20:18.410Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-70km-to-go\"><span>70km to go<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-25b93aa0-7ad8-11f1-b691-1b5573df5d95\">We&#8217;re in the build up to the build up to the sprint&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not really hotting up yet, but Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech are both massed at the front, chatting tactics and just generally exerting their authority on this race. Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen are definitely the two big favourites, two of the purest and fastest sprinters in this bunch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:11:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:11:51.520Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-f784209c-7ad6-11f1-abf9-1904a784c326\">Vic-en-Bigorre, by the way, is home to one of the best weekend markets you&#8217;ll see in southern France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:06:56+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:06:56.185Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-s-coming-up-2\">What&#8217;s coming up<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-47a0fd08-7ad6-11f1-ac01-6b7db9af2f32\">There are a couple of points of interest in the final 50km, with an intermediate sprint in Vic-en-Bigorre with 45km to go, followed by the day&#8217;s only climb, the category-3 C\u00f4te de Baleix (1km at 8.8%) with 25km to go. The intermediate sprint will provide something of a preview of the real thing, with most likely to be keen for the green jersey points on offer, but perhaps cautious about really opening the taps and dulling the legs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T14:01:24+00:00\">2026-07-08T14:01:24.859Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-82133af6-7ad5-11f1-b800-756a2d100cc0\">Not a huge amount happening in the race right now. Just water bottles, a lot of water bottles. There are soigneurs regularly placed along the road, and riders are regularly going back to team cars for bottles and ice to try and stay cool. The peloton have just had a nature break, and our leader continues to plough his lonely furrow through the Pyrenean furnace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:53:44+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:53:44.476Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"boring-2\">Boring?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-6f92ee54-7ad4-11f1-82d2-1b0d49220ddd\">We&#8217;ve gone slightly off-piste here but a surprisingly vigorous debate was sparked in the CN Slack channel this morning, when we were (presciently) discussing whether stages like this are boring, or whether pure sprinters still have a place in the modern Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p>One colleague suddenly suggested that sprint stages are better than mountain stages these days, and it all kicked off from there&#8230; Check out the piece below for some wild takes and the chance to have your say.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-6f92ee54-7ad4-11f1-82d2-1b0d49220ddd-2\"><strong>Sprints underrated, mountains overrated? We just had a huge debate about which Tour de France stages are more exciting, and want to know your thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:42:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:42:29.470Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-dd38ac84-7ad2-11f1-a4e2-d196d7b8e4b5\">Philipsen and Merlier are the two favourites today and their teams are taking responsibility.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-dd38ad24-7ad2-11f1-a2e6-7fbf9be5edfa\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/5en2DAgE3NYibMCrhdUHig-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:34:34+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:34:34.110Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-100km-remaining\"><span>100km remaining<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-c203fdde-7ad1-11f1-b5e1-d79ba7b0f44f\">So, 100 to go and to bring you up to speed we have a lone leader, Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9), with a lead of 2:45 over the peloton, which is being led by Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:24:10+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:24:10.366Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"no-de-lie-2\">No De Lie<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-4e2d6338-7ad0-11f1-9ae3-01818ef4dd13\">Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 may not ordinarily chuck a rider up the road on a day like today, but their sprinter Arnaud De Lie is already at home, abandoning the race on stage 3. The Belgian is blighted by bad luck these days and just like at the Giro he fell ill ahead of the Tour and failed to recover.<\/p>\n<p>Veistroffer was in fact tasked with dropping back to help De Lie at the very back of the race amid his suffering on stage 3. De Lie actually told Veistroffer to go ahead and leave him towards the end of the stage, as the time cut loomed, and De Lie eventually climbed off only a few kilometres from the finish.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4e2d6338-7ad0-11f1-9ae3-01818ef4dd13-2\"><strong>Arnaud De Lie out of Tour de France after brutal day of suffering<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:13:14+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:13:14.890Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-c8096910-7ace-11f1-99cd-b1bee9428dc7\">Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech have taken over from Uno-X at the head of the peloton, the sprint teams getting involved early and even taking the gap to the lone escapee down to 2:30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T13:02:28+00:00\">2026-07-08T13:02:28.183Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"three-minutes-only-2\">&#8220;Three minutes only?!&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-45ece070-7acd-11f1-931d-8d8377327647\">Veistroffer pulls up alongside his team car and we can just about make out what they&#8217;re saying.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Three minutes only? With one guy in front?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-45ece070-7acd-11f1-931d-8d8377327647-2\">Our solo leader is clearly non-plussed by the short leash he&#8217;s being kept on by the peloton. As he points out, he&#8217;s one lone rider against an army. Back in the day double-digits would be a common gap for a breakaway of several riders, but these days teams don&#8217;t want to ramp up the chase later on, preferring a steadier spread of energy. It is slightly ridiculous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:44:51+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:44:51.033Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-cfda8ff6-7aca-11f1-9fc4-0f6dbde09276\">A first shot of our breakaway hero, Baptiste Veistroffer.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-cfda9064-7aca-11f1-8ddb-a92c4cd9a507\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/e35VghjfUfQs9YSR2BHbtc-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:39:31+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:39:31.601Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"uno-x-controlling-2\">Uno-X controlling<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-117f8714-7aca-11f1-8a21-f54b33ae2c00\">The gap reaches the three-minute mark after around 15km of racing and that&#8217;s the cue for the peloton to start picking up the pace to control this eminently controllable breakaway.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s Uno-X on the front, fulfilling their duties as the team with the yellow jersey. Torsten Tr\u00e6en is the man in yellow, the Norwegian taking the jersey from Tadej Poga\u010dar thanks to his presence in yesterday&#8217;s big break.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-117f8714-7aca-11f1-8a21-f54b33ae2c00-2\"><strong>More on what this means for Tr\u00e6en and his team here in this article from Stephen Farrand<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:32:30+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:32:30.109Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-dying-art-2\">A dying art<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-163144d8-7ac9-11f1-b918-95d438566338\">Breakaways are a dying art in the modern peloton on stages such as these. We have even seen a couple of Tour stages take place with no breakaway whatsoever in recent years, so at least we have one man out front today.<\/p>\n<p>The heat will no doubt be a factor, with few riders wanting to exert themselves in temperatures that are bordering on the dangerous anyway. But doomed breakaways on sprint stages have long been trending down. Usually you could rely on the wildcard invited teams, for whom it would be a sort of de facto pact with ASO to animate the race and justify their inclusion. But there are only two wildcards now, and even they are now more than publicity seekers, with proper sprint ambitions in their own right \u2013 Caja Rural have Fernando Gaviria here.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-163144d8-7ac9-11f1-b918-95d438566338-2\">It&#8217;s upending the rhythms of the Tour de France and is perhaps a vicious circle \u2013 days like what we have here now may only encourage the organisers to lean even further away from pan-flat terrain in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:22:16+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:22:16.663Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-breakaway-is-formed\"><span>Breakaway is formed<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-a8851cd0-7ac7-11f1-b8ec-9559edfd765f\">That&#8217;s it, then. Veistroffer pings off, no one else registers even the most remote of interests in going along with him. It&#8217;s a one-man Tour de France breakaway formed in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:18:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:18:11.738Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-1686f4ac-7ac7-11f1-99ca-495a1bafda97\">Immediate attack from Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:17:29+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:17:29.750Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section\" id=\"section-kilometre-zero\"><span>Kilometre-zero<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-fee9beec-7ac6-11f1-a3f1-f91a2eae1e90\">We reach kilometre-zero, race director Christian Prudhomme rises from the sunroof of his red Skoda, waves his yellow flag, and we are underway on stage 5 of the Tour de France!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:16:11+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:16:11.337Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"contenders-2\">Contenders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-cec5e3bc-7ac6-11f1-bcf4-d7dbecf1c202\">We&#8217;ve mentioned <strong>Jasper Philipsen <\/strong>(Alpecin-Premier Tech) and the Belgian is the top Tour de France sprinter of recent years, with 10 stages to his name already. With a strong lead-out train that includes Mathieu van der Poel, he&#8217;s a hot favourite.<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen&#8217;s closest rival in recent years has been his fellow Belgian, <strong>Tim Merlier <\/strong>(Soudal-QuickStep), who bagged two stages last year. He had a disrupted start to the season but has six wins to his name already and looks back to his best.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-cec5e3bc-7ac6-11f1-bcf4-d7dbecf1c202-2\"><strong>Olav Kooij <\/strong>(Decathlon CMA CGM) also had a disrupted season start, and his very presence was doubted when Paul Seixas shot through the roof and revolutionised the team&#8217;s plans for the Tour. But Kooij, finally riding his first Tour after years of limited opportunities at Visma, proved himself with three wins in two build-up races.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biniam Girmay <\/strong>(NSN) won the green jersey two years ago and though he didn&#8217;t win a single race in 2025, he&#8217;s looking more like his old self again these days.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t count out <strong>Mads Pedersen<\/strong> (Lidl-Trek), who won from the breakaway yesterday but can more than hold his own in bunch kicks.<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty more names who could also spring a surprise, so we should be in for a competitive and exciting sprint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:08:31+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:08:31.865Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-bcf74ee2-7ac5-11f1-a884-1f2464612a67\">The riders are rolling. They&#8217;ll make their way through a short neutral zone before the stage is waved underway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T12:04:18+00:00\">2026-07-08T12:04:18.180Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-25bc90e6-7ac5-11f1-87ba-01a6f9e78dc3\">Pau is a Tour de France staple, this being the 77th time the Tour will visit. Only Paris and Bordeaux have welcomed the Tour on more occasions. It&#8217;s often seen as the gateway to the Pyrenees, so has a key strategic location, all the infrastructure you need to host a finish and start (tomorrow), plus a really strong enthusiasm for cycling and the Tour within the local council.<\/p>\n<p>We had a year off last year, so the last visit to Pau was in 2024 when a certain Jasper Philipsen was victorious. The Belgian is among the top favourites again today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:53:03+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:53:03.056Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-934eb5fa-7ac3-11f1-984f-8d8a50595f90\">The roll-out is coming up at 14:05 local time, with the race set to properly get underway at 14:15 \u2013 so in around 25 minutes from now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:51:43+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:51:43.620Z<\/time><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-63ecda12-7ac3-11f1-9e73-31f1bf1a213a\">This is the scene at the start in Lannemezan, where the riders are currently signing on for today&#8217;s stage<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check id=\"elk-63ecda76-7ac3-11f1-9b27-05420ce3b83f\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-1024-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/9mgLTtDwaLyjRDQejdL48F-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wcp-item-content\"><time class=\"no-wrap live-feed-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T11:45:45+00:00\">2026-07-08T11:45:45.533Z<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"welcome-and-preamble-2\">Welcome and preamble<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-833cf3d6-7ac1-11f1-a70d-e3de5a9b03fd\">Hello there and welcome along as we head deeper into the Tour de France and towards what is expected to be our first bunch sprint of the 2026 edition.<\/p>\n<p>There was a time when the opening week was littered with flat stages, but this year the fast finishers have had to through what have essentially been three GC days and a breakaway day \u2013 not to mention a heatwave \u2013 before finally finding terrain suited to them.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-833cf3d6-7ac1-11f1-a70d-e3de5a9b03fd-2\">The Tour is trending away from traditional bunch kicks and there aren&#8217;t ample opportunities on the 2026 route so all the big-name sprinters will be eager not to let this opportunity pass by.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few lumps and bumps on this 158km stage, but nothing that is realistically going to trouble the sprinters, so expect a battle royale on the streets of Pau, which is the third-most-visited city in Tour de France history. Oh, and it&#8217;s another scorcher in the south of France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"relative max-w-[1070px] viafoura-twig-component mt-6\" data-component-name=\"Viafoura:Comments\" data-nosnippet data-community-guidelines-text=\"&lt;p class=&apos;vfcustom-community-guidelines&apos;&gt;Please follow our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/about\/#section-community-guidelines&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;community guidelines&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;\" data-join-the-conversation-text=\"Join the Conversation\">\n<div class=\"absolute top-0 left-0 w-full h-full flex items-center justify-center z-50 bg-white\/90 border-1 rounded-b-[var(--comment-widget-border-radius,0)]\">\n<div class=\"p-2 text-center\">\n<p class=\"mb-3 text-lg!\">You must confirm your public display name before commenting<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-3 text-sm!\">Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/live\/tour-de-france-stage-5-live\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/bMtR6cZLdgHbhtMvNbo2hH-2000-80.jpg&#8221;] 1 As it happened: former World Champion wins Tour de France stage 4 as new race leader takes over from Tadej Poga\u010dar 2 As it happened: World champion grabs yellow by the smallest margins with Tour de France stage 3 uphill sprint 3 As it happened: UAE Team Emirates-XRG show their muscle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,68],"class_list":["post-2033681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-cyclingnews-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2033681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2033681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2033681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2033681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}