Olav Kooij won the fifth stage of Paris-Nice, an undulating 193.5-kilometer fraction. The Dutch sprinter was the fastest in the peloton ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek) and Pascal Ackermann (Israel – Premier Tech), second and third, respectively. Australian Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) maintained the lead of the French race.
The riders set off from Saint-Sauver-de-Montagut for a fairly long ride to Sisteron. The first eighty kilometers were flat, but then followed four third-category climbs. The Col de la Pigière (2.6 km at 5%) at an altitude of 968 meters, the highest point of the stage. What followed was a slightly downhill section, then uphill (1 km at 6%) and a final ten-kilometer loop.
The breakaway of the day was led by Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto Dstny), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Sandy Dujardin and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), but at the end they were all neutralized by the peloton.
On the climb to Sisteron came the final connection. Immediately afterwards there were several breakaways, with Quentin Pacher and Jasper De Buyst very active. The day’s favorite, Mads Pedersen, also made a move, but was quickly brought under control.
In the closing stages, Remco Evenepoel tried to break away on the descent. However, the Belgian champion was unsuccessful, so in the end we had a bunch sprint, albeit with a reduced peloton. Arvid de Kleijn and Fabio Jakobsen did not make the main bunch.
In the final Mads Pedersen attacked from a distance and managed to hold off Pascal Ackermann. However, Olav Kooij came back. The Dutchman sprinted with conviction to his second victory. Kooij previously won the first stage of Paris-Nice.
The ‘Race of the Sun’ will continue this Friday with the sixth stage, another leg-breaking day of 198.2 kilometers, which will connect the French towns of Sisteron and La Colle-sur-Loup.
París – Niza 2024 (2.UWT)
Results stage 5 | Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut – Sisteron (193,5 km)
| 1 | Olav Kooij | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 4:23:44 |
| 2 | Mads Pedersen | Lidl – Trek | ,, |
| 3 | Pascal Ackermann | Israel – Premier Tech | ,, |
| 4 | Sam Bennett | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ,, |
| 5 | Danny van Poppel | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 6 | Tobias Lund Andresen | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | ,, |
| 7 | Matteo Trentin | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | ,, |
| 8 | Laurence Pithie | Groupama – FDJ | ,, |
| 9 | Madis Mihkels | Intermarché – Wanty | ,, |
| 10 | Dušan Rajović | Bahrain – Victorious | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Luke Plapp | Team Jayco AlUla | 17:38:48 |
| 2 | Santiago Buitrago | Bahrain – Victorious | 0:13 |
| 3 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | 0:27 |
| 4 | João Almeida | UAE Team Emirates | 0:29 |
| 5 | Remco Evenepoel | Soudal – Quick Step | 0:30 |
| 6 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:40 |
| 7 | Chris Harper | Team Jayco AlUla | 0:46 |
| 8 | Matteo Jorgenson | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 0:52 |
| 9 | Rigoberto Urán | EF Education – EasyPost | 0:54 |