Olav Kooij sprints to Stage 5 success as David Gaudu eats into Tadej Pogacar lead at Paris-Nice

Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) sprinted to Stage 5 success at Paris-Nice on Thursday as David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) made inroads into the general classification lead of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). Gaudu and Pogacar finished safely in the bunch, but Gaudu shaved four seconds off Pogacar’s GC lead after picking up bonus points in an intermediate sprint. Ad After Pogacar won his first serious battle with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) of 2023 on Stage 4, the 212.4km Stage 5 – the longest of the event – was billed as one for the sprinters or breakaway artists.

Paris — Nice'He shouldn't have done that' — Vingegaard attack questioned after shipping time to PogacarA DAY AGO And while Trek-Segafredo and Jayco Alula attempted to string out the peloton on the final climb of the day, the Cat. 3 Cote d’Aleyrac, the bunch was all together as the race hit the flamme rouge. The final run into Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux contained two roundabouts – one under the 1km-to-go marker and one with just 300m to go – meaning positioning was always going to be crucial.

And so it proved as Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) closed down a move from Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) to allow Kooij to seal the win after a sedate day of riding. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was second and Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) third. Roglic sees off Alaphilippe and big-hitters in Stage 4 tear-up 'He shouldn't have done that' — Vingegaard attack questioned after shipping time to Pogacar Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) – as he has on every road stage of the event thus far — attacked at the start of the day.