Kooij won the Sisteron sprint and Plapp remains the Paris Nice leader

The Dutch Olav Kooij (Visma Lease a Bike) demonstrates that again He is the sprint king of Paris Nice after signing a double in the fifth inning, mooted the day of the mountainous move between Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut and Sisteron193.5 kilometers, where Australian Lukas Plapp remained the leader (Jayco).

Without a doubt, Kooij (Numansdorp, 22 years old), It is now a reality in the community of great sprinters in the peloton world. Won the first stage of the “race of the day” in Les Mureaux and in Sisteron gave an exhibition the Danish Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek) and the German Pascal Ackermann (Israel Premier Tech) reached the final meters with authority, all with a time of 4h.23.44, at an average of 44 km/hour.

There were no changes in the general classification despite the fact that the favorites appeared at the end of the stage. “Aussie” Lukas Plapp retained the yellow jersey with 13 seconds ahead of Colombian Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and 27th compared to American Brandon McNulty (UAE).

The leak remains under control

Mountain spreading to 4 ports is not too demanding located in the middle of the route and a flat finish in the last 50 kmhelps in a sprint. Very contentious transition phase from start to finish.

For starters 6 runners broke the order and formed an interesting escape, with Latour and Dujardin (TotalEnergies), De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Gougeard (Cofidis), Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and the Dane from Movistar Mathias Norsgaard. They had to work on an upward profile until they reached the Col de la Sausse (3rd, 2.7 km at 5.1 percent), at the top of which they had an advantage of 1.50 minutes.

With the project theoretically finished, 2 more men joined the Col de Peyruergue (2a.5.4 km at 4.5), both from Lotto Dstny, Campenaerts and Eenkhoorn vitamin roller for the advance group, determined to fight the threat of a platoon that did not yet resorted to hunting rhythm.

Latour, always a fighter, moved to the front of the group on the last difficulty of the day, the Col de la Pigière (3a.2.7 km at 4.6), where he stayed ahead for a minute before facing a massive fast descent of 43 km to Sisteron, except for a hill near the final finish in the city in the Provence region, where there is also a bonus of 6.4 and 2 seconds for the first three.

Evenepoel puts in order, Kooij without a rival in the sprint

With 8 good riders at the front, finishing does not guarantee arrival in the sprint, but with 30 minutes remaining most are approaching half a minute. That proximity prompted Campenaerts, to attack reduce the group back to 6 members.

The men of Pedersen’s Lidl and Kooij’s Visma They shot to the lead to cause the outcome due to speed. High speed in the middle of the descent, a way of flying in search of glory that only a runner can smile.

The logic of power prevailed for most of the 9.5 km from the finish line. A colossal escapade of about 180 km is over, without its suffering protagonists. The fireworks inside Sisteron are over. Attacks followed each other, but no one was able to break through, no matter how hard the Lotto men tried.

A final with control and scoring of favorites. McNulty strained in the lead and Evenepoel jumped to make amends. After the non-aggression pact, the peloton prepared for the sprint. Other protagonists, different goals.

Tudor’s Swiss team Fabian Cancellara tried to dominate with their “train”, but all teams wanted to play their tricks. Pedersen was the first to launch a call for victory, the German Ackermann wanted to see the cards, but Kooij appeared with the authority to raise his voice loud and clear. His second victory in Paris Nice and number 32 on his record.

The The sixth stage will take place this Friday between Sisteron and La Colle-sur-Loup, 198.2 kmDay of mountain with 4 second-class and 1 third-class pass.