GC and jerseys after Tour de France 2026 stage 5

Torstein Træen kept the yellow jersey after stage 5 of the Tour de France 2026, as Olav Kooij won the race’s first proper bunch sprint in Pau.

Kooij took the stage for Decathlon CMA CGM ahead of Max Kanter and Tim Merlier, with Huub Artz fourth, Jasper Philipsen fifth, Biniam Girmay sixth and green jersey leader Mads Pedersen seventh. The stage was decided in 3:29:07, with the front group gaining 14 seconds on the larger peloton behind.

For the full stage story, see our Tour de France 2026 stage 5 report. The route had looked like the sprinters’ first major chance in our stage 5 preview, and Kooij made sure it became a day that changed the sprint conversation.

Behind the stage win, the main GC picture stayed stable. Træen remains 28 seconds ahead of Sean Quinn, with Mathias Vacek third at 3:50. Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard are still level with each other, both 7:53 down on the yellow jersey.

Tour de France 2026 stage 5 result

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Olav Kooij	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	3:29:07
2	Max Kanter	XDS Astana Team	s.t.
3	Tim Merlier	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
4	Huub Artz	Lotto Intermarché	s.t.
5	Jasper Philipsen	Alpecin-Premier Tech	s.t.
6	Biniam Girmay	NSN Cycling Team	s.t.
7	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
8	Milan Fretin	Cofidis	s.t.
9	Anthony Turgis	TotalEnergies	s.t.
10	Søren Wærenskjold	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.

Kooij also took the 10-second stage winner’s bonus, with Kanter taking six seconds and Merlier four. Those bonuses did not affect the yellow jersey battle because none of the podium finishers is close enough on GC to threaten Træen.

The win was still important. Kooij arrived at this Tour as one of the leading fast men, but Pau gave him the proof he needed at the first serious opportunity. Our analysis of why Olav Kooij’s Pau win changes the Tour de France sprint picture looks at what it means for Philipsen, Merlier, Girmay and Pedersen.

Tour de France 2026 GC after stage 5

Rank	Rider	Team	Time / gap
1	Torstein Træen	Uno-X Mobility	16:32:07
2	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	+0:28
3	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	+3:50
4	Tadej Pogačar	UAE Team Emirates XRG	+7:53
5	Jonas Vingegaard	Team Visma-Lease a Bike	+7:53
6	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Premier Tech	+8:06
7	Remco Evenepoel	Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe	+8:16
8	Isaac del Toro	UAE Team Emirates XRG	+8:17
9	Juan Ayuso	Lidl-Trek	+8:20
10	Paul Seixas	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	+8:41

The important detail is that stage 5 did not change the structure of the GC. The sprint group finished ahead of the larger peloton, but the key yellow jersey contenders remain in the same relative order.

That means stage 5 was a holding day for the race lead. Træen survived safely. Quinn, Vacek, Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Del Toro, Ayuso and Seixas remain where they were after the breakaway reshuffle on stage 4.

For anyone still catching up on that unusual gap, our explainer on why Pogačar and Vingegaard are 7:53 down breaks down how the stage 4 breakaway changed the yellow jersey race without changing their direct battle.

Yellow jersey: Torstein Træen

Træen keeps yellow for another day, but the real test now comes immediately.

Stage 5 was always likely to be about avoiding trouble rather than gaining time. Uno-X Mobility had to protect the Norwegian through a sprint day, guide him through the final 10km and make sure the late crash and splits did not put him in trouble. They managed that.

The bigger question is what happens on stage 6. Træen still has 7:53 over Pogačar and Vingegaard, but the next stage brings the Col d’Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and a summit finish at Gavarnie-Gèdre. That is the first real mountain test of whether his yellow jersey is sustainable or simply the result of one perfectly timed breakaway.

For more on the rider now carrying the race lead, see our profile on Torstein Træen as the new Tour de France 2026 yellow jersey wearer. The full context behind his move into yellow is also covered in our stage 4 report and GC and jerseys after stage 4 round-up.

For now, the yellow jersey race has paused. It has not settled.

Green jersey: Mads Pedersen

Pedersen kept the green jersey, even though Kooij won the stage.

The Lidl-Trek rider did exactly what he needed to do on a day that suited the pure sprinters. He scored at the intermediate sprint, then finished seventh in Pau. That gave him another useful points haul and limited the damage from Kooij, Kanter, Merlier, Philipsen and Girmay.

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	131
2	Biniam Girmay	NSN Cycling Team	67
3	Jasper Philipsen	Alpecin-Premier Tech	58
4	Tadej Pogačar	UAE Team Emirates XRG	55
5	Olav Kooij	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	50
6	Max Kanter	XDS Astana Team	50
7	Jonas Vingegaard	Team Visma-Lease a Bike	44
8	Quinn Simmons	Lidl-Trek	42
9	Isaac del Toro	UAE Team Emirates XRG	39
10	Remco Evenepoel	Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe	33

Pedersen is still in the strongest position in the points race. Stage 4 gave him the big cushion. Stage 5 proved that he can keep collecting even when the finish is not perfectly tailored to him.

The stage also made the green jersey race feel more real. Kooij has now arrived in the competition with a stage win. Girmay is second in the points table and still scoring consistently. Philipsen did not win, but fifth place kept him involved. Merlier took a podium finish but needs more if he is going to become a major green jersey threat.

Pedersen’s advantage is no longer just theoretical. He has points from a breakaway win, points from an intermediate sprint and points from a bunch sprint. That is exactly the broad scoring profile he needs, as covered in our analysis of whether Mads Pedersen can win green at the Tour de France 2026.

The wider points battle is also covered in our Tour de France 2026 sprinters guide and our guide to the best sprint stages at the Tour de France 2026.

Polka-dot jersey: Alex Baudin

Alex Baudin keeps the mountains jersey after stage 5.

The stage only had one categorised climb, the Côte de Baleix, so the polka-dot competition was never likely to be transformed. Baptiste Veistroffer took the maximum two points there after his long solo breakaway, while Baudin collected the remaining point to extend his lead.

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Alex Baudin	EF Education-EasyPost	13
2	Alex Molenaar	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	10
3	Nicolas Prodhomme	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	9
4	Raul Garcia Pierna	Movistar Team	7
5	Marco Frigo	NSN Cycling Team	5
6	Jan Tratnik	Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe	5
7	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates XRG	4
8	Vlad Van Mechelen	Bahrain Victorious	4
9	Tadej Pogačar	UAE Team Emirates XRG	3
10	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	3

This was only a holding day for the climbers’ competition. Stage 6 will be completely different. The Tourmalet is the first major mountains classification prize of the race, and the Col d’Aspin and Gavarnie-Gèdre finish will add further pressure.

Baudin has managed the early days well, but the polka-dot jersey is about to move from opportunistic points on smaller climbs to a more serious contest on the high Pyrenean roads. Our Tour de France 2026 climbers guide explains how the jersey battle may change once the biggest climbs arrive.

White jersey: Mathias Vacek

Mathias Vacek remains in the white jersey after stage 5, with no major change among the highest-placed young riders.

Vacek is still third overall and leads the young rider classification by 4:16 from Ramses Debruyne. Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso and Paul Seixas remain close behind in the white jersey race, all inside five minutes of Vacek.

Rank	Rider	Team	Time / gap
1	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	16:35:57
2	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Premier Tech	+4:16
3	Isaac del Toro	UAE Team Emirates XRG	+4:27
4	Juan Ayuso	Lidl-Trek	+4:30
5	Paul Seixas	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	+4:51
6	Lenny Martinez	Bahrain Victorious	+5:12
7	Davide Piganzoli	Team Visma-Lease a Bike	+6:18
8	Lennert Van Eetvelt	Lotto Intermarché	+6:23
9	Cian Uijtdebroeks	Movistar Team	+7:27
10	Pablo Castrillo	Movistar Team	+8:54

Stage 5 did not decide the white jersey, but it did show how fragile some of these positions can be on flat days. Van Eetvelt and Castrillo both lost ground compared with the main GC group, which nudged the order behind Vacek.

The real white jersey test comes on stage 6. Vacek’s lead is still valuable, but Del Toro, Ayuso, Seixas, Martinez, Piganzoli, Van Eetvelt and Uijtdebroeks all have climbing credentials. The Tourmalet stage should begin to show whether Vacek can defend white in the mountains, or whether the stage 4 breakaway has simply given him a temporary buffer.

Kooij’s win changes the sprint picture

Kooij’s victory gives Decathlon CMA CGM a major Tour moment and immediately changes the sprint hierarchy.

Before stage 5, the sprint conversation had been built around riders such as Philipsen, Merlier, Girmay and Pedersen. Kooij had the speed to be taken seriously, but he still needed to prove it in the Tour itself. Pau did that.

He beat Kanter and Merlier in the first proper sprint finish of the race. Philipsen was only fifth, Girmay and Pedersen were both in the top seven, and the final sprint was shaped by a late crash and split rather than a completely clean lead-out battle.

That means the Tour’s sprint field now looks more open. Kooij has the stage win, Pedersen has the green jersey lead, Girmay is quietly scoring, Philipsen remains dangerous but has not yet converted, and Merlier has shown speed without winning. Stage 7 to Bordeaux will now carry even more weight for the fast men.

What changed after stage 5?

Stage 5 changed the sprint race more than the GC race.

The yellow jersey stayed with Træen. Pogačar and Vingegaard stayed level with each other. Evenepoel, Del Toro, Ayuso and Seixas did not move in the overall standings relative to the main yellow jersey battle. The white jersey remained with Vacek, and Baudin kept the polka dots.

The big movement came in green. Pedersen still leads, but Kooij, Girmay and Philipsen all scored. Kanter also moved into the points conversation after taking second on the stage and second at the intermediate sprint.

The stage also created a clear contrast. Stage 5 was the day the sprinters finally had their chance. Stage 6 is the day the climbers and GC teams get theirs.

What comes next?

Stage 6 takes the race from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre over 186.2km, with the Col d’Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and a summit finish in the Pyrenees. It is the first major test of Træen’s yellow jersey and the first chance since stage 4 for the GC favourites to take back serious time.

For the full route breakdown, see our Tour de France 2026 stage 6 preview. Our analysis of the stage 6 Tourmalet yellow jersey test looks specifically at whether Træen can survive the next examination.

For Pedersen, the green jersey battle now pauses slightly while the race goes back into the mountains. For Baudin, the mountains jersey enters its first major phase. For Vacek, the white jersey becomes harder to defend. For Træen, everything depends on whether he can limit the losses when Pogačar, Vingegaard and the other favourites finally get Tourmalet terrain under their wheels.

Stage 5 was about control, positioning and sprint speed. Stage 6 should be about survival, climbing depth and whether the new yellow jersey can withstand the first real pressure of the race.