09/03/2023

Paris-Nice: Olav Kooij wins stage 5 in treacherous sprint

Olav Kooij had promised in the first sprints of Paris-Nice to have the power to take a stage win, and stage 5 has been taken by the Jumbo-Visma rider.

A calm day in the peloton. The uphill start didn't materialize to a strong breakaway, and only TotalEnergies' Sandy Dujardin went up the road. It wasn't an ambitious move, the French rider was reeled in with 88 kilometers to go. From there on the peloton never had too much stress.

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There were two hilltops towards the end of the stage, in the first the intermediate sprint saw a battle, David Gaudu took 6 seconds and Tadej Pogacar took 2. In the second Jayco AlUla pushed the pace but it hasn't done damage in the peloton, with a bunch sprint then inevitable and preparing for a full bunch sprint.

The entrance of the final kilometer saw a roundabout that disrupted the peloton quite a lot and saw an INEOS rider slip off the front. It was a dangerous attack, but Jumbo-Visma had a rider towards the front closing down the moving and leading out the sprint. It was technical one.

Mads Pedersen was the first to launch his sprint, but this time around Olav Kooij had the best legs on the day. The Dutchman took his first win of the season, beating Pedersen and Tim Merlier in the final sprint. Tadej Pogacar has kept the lead of the race.