First opportunity, first victory! Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) ruled the first sprint of his maiden Tour de France participation to put his name in the rich history of the event. The Dutchman found his opening in a most traditional venue, Pau, which first hosted a stage finish in 1930, and most recently in 2024, when Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory. This time, the Belgian star had to settle for fifth in a hair-raising finale. Kooij outpaced Max Kanter (XDS Astana), second, and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), third, to give his team their 23rd victory in the Tour, their first since Felix Gall won in Courchevel in 2023. As for a sprint success, it is the first for the French team since 2004. Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) was caught in a late crash but he retains the Maillot Jaune on the eve of a major GC battle: stage 6 takes the riders into the Pyrenees, passing by Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet, finishing in Gavarnie-Gèdre.
A day for the sprinters? After the team time trial, the first general classification skirmishes and a breakaway stage won by Mads Pedersen in Foix, the fastest men in the bunch believe the road to Pau should favour them. There is only one categorised climb to overcome, Côte de Baleix (cat. 3), whose summit lies just over 25 kilometres away from the finish set in a most classic venue for the Tour.
This is the 77th time the Tour stops in Pau, the third most visited city in the history of the race after Paris and Bordeaux. The last stage finish here, in 2024, favoured one of the best sprinters in recent history: Jasper Philipsen.
Veistroffer leads the way
Fast men assert their ambitions at the start in Lannemezan, but one rider wants to flip the script: Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché), whose leader Arnaud De Lie had to leave the race on day 3. Without their sprinter, the Belgian team needs to find new ways to weigh on the race and chase a 42nd victory in their history in the Tour, the first since Victor Campenaerts’s successful breakaway in Barcelonnette (2024).
Defending a Grand Tour leader’s jersey for the first time in their history, Uno-X Mobility take the reins of the bunch early in the stage. The gap reaches a maximum of 3’40’’ at km 21. It’s time for Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Premier Tech to take over the pace-setting in the bunch as they aim to control the day for their respective leaders, Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen.
Veistroffer takes the first prizes
A specialist of (solo) breakaways, Veistroffer shows his physical and mental endurance. He leads by 2’10’’ as he takes full points at the intermediate sprint (Vic-en-Bigorre, km 113.5) ahead of Max Kanter (XDS Astana) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The Dane wears the green jersey for the time in the Tour after winning the points standings of La Vuelta and the Giro.
Veistroffer is still alone at the front to crest the Côte de Baleix (km 132.7). 40 seconds behind him, polka-dot jersey wearer Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) takes the last KOM point up for grabs. Veistroffer is also named the most combative rider of the day.
Træen is caught behind, Kooij flies ahead
Over the top, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) accelerates. Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) works with him while Valentin Paret-Peintre marks them. They are reeled in with 17 kilometres to go. Veistroffer suffers the same fate three kilometres further down the road.
Sprint teams control the finale, but a crash with just over 5 kilometres to go disrupts the finale. Caught behind, Torstein Træen chases hard to defend the Maillot Jaune. At the front, XDS Astana set the sprint for Max Kanter, but Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) flies past everyone to take the win. No gaps are recorded between the main GC contenders.
