As it happened: Paris-Nice stage 5

Stage 5 of Paris-Nice brings the peloton from St Sauveur de Montagut to Sisteron. On the face of it, the 193.5km stage lends itself to another mass finish. In practice, the rugged terrain en route might provide some surprises.

The peloton will roll out of St Sauveur de Montagut at 11.35 CET, and they're scheduled to hit kilometre zero at 11.55. Although the temperature is just a touch below 10°C, the skies above a serene shade of blue as the peloton gathers on the start line.

Luke Plapp wears the yellow jersey on today's stage after he placed second behind Santiago Buitrago at Mont Brouilly on Wednesday. 

The peloton is currently navigating the 9.8km-long neutralised section. There are four category 3 climbs on the agenda today – the Col de la Sausse (2.6km at 5.2%), the Col de Peyruergue (5.3km at 4.9%), the Côte de la Rochette-du-Buis (2.3km at 5.4%) and the Col de la Pigière (2.6km at 5%) – the last of which comes 40km or so from the finish.

An early abandon: Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has withdrawn from Paris-Nice in the neutralised zone.

Meanwhile, Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost), so impressive at the Tour Colombia, has been confirmed as a non-starter today, leaving 145 riders in the race. 

-193km

The flag drops and stage 5 of Paris-Nice is under way. Almost immediately, Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) lays out his intentions with an early attack.

Latour gets some traction on his attack, and some company to boot. His teammate Sandy Dujardin comes across with Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar).

-182km

The peloton is content to give the escapees some leeway. Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar) quickly amass a lead of two minutes.

Luke Plapp seized an unexpected opportunity on stage 4 to Mont Brouilly, but the Australian champion is full value for his hold on the yellow jersey. His boldness in attacking on the penultimate climb was followed by savvy on the haul to the finish, where he limited his losses smartly to Santiago Buitrago in the closing kilometre. "I’m blown away by how it unfolded to be honest. It was quite a weird way that it all played out, but I am really happy," Plapp said afterwards. Simone Giuliani has more here.

-174km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar)

Peloton at 2:20

There is no danger to Plapp's yellow jersey in this break, incidentally, with Dujardin the highest placed on GC, some 12:38 down.

-164km

The break is barreling along at a brisk early average speed of 48kph, still 2:30 clear of the peloton and still 50km or so away from the day's first classified climb, the category 3 Col de la Sausse. 

-158km

At first glance, today's stage isn't one for the GC men. But the snow forecast for Saturday's key mountain stage to Auron might change the outlook of the favourites, whose game of cat and mouse on the run-in to Mont Brouilly yesterday allowed two very dangerous riders steal a march on them. "We’re going to have to sit down and have a good think about the tactics. I don’t want to blame anybody, but it was just a bit unfortunate for everybody," Remco Evenepoel said yesterday. "Nobody is happy with two strong riders taking 40 seconds out of nowhere.”

-148km

The status quo remains in place for now. Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar) have 2:25 in hand on the peloton.

-144km

The escapees have covered 45.4kph in the first hour, per paris-nice.fe

Remco Evenepoel's directeur sportif Klaas Lodewyck was critical of UAE Team Emirates' tactics when he spoke to Het Laatste Nieuws after yesterday's stage, reckoning that the team, who had Brandon McNulty, Joao Almeida, Finn Fisher-Black and Jay Vine atop the standings, should have been more active in shutting down Plapp and Buitrago.  "It was not up to us to respond," he said. "UAE occupied the first four places in the rankings. Just choose a leader, I think, and let the others ride flat out. They did that for a moment, but stopped just as quickly. Then they accelerated again. Well. Strange tactics."

Perhaps, but what of Soudal-QuickStep? The team briefly worked on the penultimate climb before Louis Vervaeke attacked, which ultimately served only to tee up Plapp's decisive move. Ilan Van Wilder rode very well indeed in Evenepoel's service on Mont Brouilly, and the Belgian champion put in a pair of crisp accelerations late on, but their overall approach also seemed a little muddled, though they weren't the only ones.

-130km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar)

Peloton at 2:30

A coalition of sprinters' teams, namely Visma-Lease A Bike, Tudor and Lidl-Trek, are policing affairs at the head of the peloton, and the break's lead has stabilised at the 2:30 mark.

-114km

The escapees are on the day's first climb, the category 3 Col de la Sausse (2.6km at 5.2%), with a lead of 2:15 over the peloton. 

-110km

Pierre Latour leads the break over the summit of the Col de la Sausse. Their advantage has been pared down slightly on the climb, and it now stands at 1:50.

-100km

After a rapid descent, the six escapees are into the final 100km with a lead of 1:40 over the peloton, where the sprinters' teams are still dictating the terms. 

The break's lead is continuing to contract as the pace increases in the peloton. We may yet have some frissons on the climbs later in the afternoon.

-92km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathijs Paasschens (Lotto-Dstny) and Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar)

Peloton at 1:10

-88km

The gap is just over a minute as the race approaches the Col de Peyruergue (5.3km at 4.9%), which might well serve as a springboard for willing counter-attackers. The ascent is followed in quick succession by the Côte de La Rochette-du-Buis.

There continue to be concerns about Saturday's stage to Auron, where snow is forecast and the temperature is expected to dip to -10°C overnight on both Thursday and Friday. Speaking to RTBF, race director Thierry Gouvenou ruled out the prospect of cancelling the stage altogether but he acknowledged that alterations could be made. “It risks being complicated, but we’re obliged to wait for more accurate forecasts before we know exactly what we must do,” said Gouvenou. “We have the advantage of starting the stage early and the bad weather is forecast for later in the day.”

At last year's Paris-Nice, you will recall,  stage 6 to La Colle-sur-Loup was cancelled altogether due to "exceptionally violent winds." As ever, the weather conditions are an occupational hazard at this race.

-80km

As anticipated - I told you so, in other words - the Col de Peyruergue has encouraged a counter-attack from the peloton. The Lotto-Dstny duo of Pascal Eenkhoorn and Victor Campenaerts have attacked and they are trying to bridge up the leading group, which includes their teammate Mathijs Paasschens.

There's a mild touch of deja vu about this move. On stage 18 of last year's Tour de France, Eenkhoorn counter-attacked from the peloton, while Campenaerts dropped back from the break to help his teammate bridge up to the front. The day ended with Kasper Asgreen taking the stage win in Bourg-en-Bresse ahead of Eenkhoorn, though Campenaerts had the consolation of being voted the day's most combative rider. “It is never easy to get on the podium of the Tour de France,” the inimitable Campenaerts said in the mixed zone that evening. “It’s well deserved. I would have found it strange if it had gone to someone else…”

The Campenaerts-Eenkhoorn tandem completes the first part of the task, bridging up to the break on the climb. There are now eight riders in front, including three from Lotto-Dstny. 

-76km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:55

-69km

Pierre Latour collects maximum king of the mountains points over the Col de Peyruergue ahead of Gougeard and Campenaerts. They have 55 seconds on the peloton.

-67km

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) are on the day's third climb, the the Côte de la Rochette-du-Buis (2.3km at 5.4%), with a lead of 1:07 over the peloton.

Groupama-FDJ lead the peloton for Laurence Pithie, with David Gaudu now deployed in a domestique role after his GC challenge imploded yesterday.

Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich) is struggling at the rear of the peloton, but if he can survive the mid-stage climbs, the terrain tackled around Sisteron is rather less rugged than in years past. His teammate Julius van den Berg, meanwhile, has abandoned the race.

-65km

An unopposed Pierre Latour completes a hat-trick of king of the mountains sprints atop the Côte de la Rochette-du-Buis after Campenaerts tells him to cool his jets on the climb to make sure the group didn't fragment. The Lotto-Dstny trio look eager to keep this group collaborating smoothly over the other side.

-64km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 1:00

Visma-Lease A Bike, Groupama-FDJ and Lidl-Trek set the tempo in the peloton for Olav Kooij, Laurence Pithie and Mads Pedersen. It's been a bit of a free ride so far for Luke Plapp and Jayco-Alula, who are without Michael Matthews after his abandon yesterday.

Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor), winner in Montargis earlier in the week, has abandoned Paris-Nice.

-60km

The escapees are still combining well out in front,  with Latour and the Lotto-Dstny trio especially prominent. Lotto are without Arnaud De Lie after his abandon, of course, so their race is all about throwing caution to the wind in moves like this.

-59km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 1:14

The weather hasn't always been kind on the road to Sisteron at Paris-Nice over the years, but the peloton of 2024 can have no complaints. They have been racing beneath clear blue skies all day.

-53km

David Gaudu continues to lead the peloton even after the climb. The Frenchman was a faller near the top of the penultimate ascent yesterday and he never managed to get back on terms, and wound up losing six minutes.

A puncture for Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), who gets a quick wheel change and swiftly rejoins the fray.

-50km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 1:15

The break hit the final classified climb of the day, the category Col de la Pigière (2.6km at 5%). There's a long drop off the climb towards Sisteron, where they cross the line for the first time with 10.6km remaining before taking in a local lap.

-47km

Pierre Latour picks up maximum points once again on the Col de la Pigière. The bunch has closed to within a minute of the escsapees as they approach the summit. 

The pace rises on the fast,  fast drop towards Sisteron off the climb. Fabio Jakobsen, incidentally, is in a group 2:35 down with Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche) and it won't be easy for that pair to make it back on at this rate.

-41km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:55

-38km

Latour, Campenaerts et al are putting up fierce resistance out in front, and they maintain a lead of 53 seconds over the peloton as they drop towards Sisteron.

-35km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Mathijs Paasschens, Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:45

Julien Bernard, whose father Jean-Francois once jokingly offered seven-time champion Sean Kelly his Porsche if only he'd let him win Paris-Nice some day, leads the peloton. The Frenchman has been doing the bulk of the pace-making for his Lidl-Trek team together with Tim Declercq. 

-30km

Out in front, meanwhile, Victor Campenaerts' efforts are splintering the break. Alexis Gougeard is irretrievably distanced. Eenkhoorn and Paasschens were also dropped by Campenaerts' turn and they're struggling to get back on...

And then there were six. Paasschens sits up, but only after putting in a massive effort to help Eenkoorn bridge back up.

-26km

Break:

Pierre Latour, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:40

Fabio Jakobsen (DSM) has abandoned Paris-Nice after he was distanced on that succession of category 3 climbs midway through the stage.

-25km

The six leaders have 30 seconds as they enter the final 25km. At this rate, it's touch and go as to whether they'll hoover up the bonus seconds when they cross the finish for the first time at the 10km to go mark.

-23km

The break is down to five riders. Pierre Latour, so generous with his efforts across the day, can do no more and he sits up.

-22km

Break:

Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:23

Jayco-Alula have joined the pace-making in the bunch, incidentally, and Luke Durbridge's whole-hearted contribution is dimming the break's prospects still further. 

-20km

Break:

Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Pascal Eenkhoorn and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:20

The tension is rising in the peloton as it becomes increasingly likely that the bunch will contest the bonus seconds with 10km to go. The sprint itself is not uphill, mind, so it's not a given that Evenepoel, Roglic et al will have a crack should the opportunity arise.

-18km

Campenaerts, Eenkhorn, Dujardin, De Bondt and Norsgaard aren't giving up just yet, mind. They battle to cling to a lead of 17 seconds.

-16km

It seems all but impossible that the escapees will hold on to the finish, but they might yet linger in front as far as the intermediate sprint with 10km reamining. 

-13km

Break:

Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:13

Yellow jersey Luke Plapp is not close to the front of the bunch, incidentally, so he'll need to take care to make sure he doesn't get caught out by any splits on the run-in.

-12km

The break have just 8 seconds as they enter the final 12km, and the GC men may yet contest the intermediate sprint...

-10.5km

Dujardin leads Norgsaard and the break across the finish line for the first time with 10.5km to go. The escapees take the bell in front and hoover up all the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.

-10km

Break:

Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Pascal Eenkhoorn, and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny)

Peloton at 0:08

-9.5km

The break is caught and immediately Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) springs into action, attacking with Michael Valgren (EF) and Bob Jungels (Bora-Hansgrohe) on his wheel. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) also moves across on the unclassified climb, bringing the rest of the bunch with him.

-8.5km

Plenty of GC men are keeping a watching brief on these skirmishes at the head of the peloton. Brandon McNulty tracks a move, which in turns sees Evenepoel follow, and suddenly a group of eight riders has a small gap over the bunch...

Evenepoel comes to the front over the top of the climb and pushes on the pace in a bid to breathe life into this move. The peloton has regained contact with the group but the race is lined out behind Evenepoel and things could easily split here on the run-in...

-6km

The peloton bunches up again slightly after Evenepoel relents, but the tension remains. Luke Plapp is still lingering at the back of the peloton. The Australian needs to be more vigilant on a run-in like this...

Groupama-FDJ take control again at the head of the peloton on behalf of Laurence Pithie. An Ineos delegation is well placed to keep Egan Bernal out of trouble. Plapp is still at the back, which will be a concern for Jayco-Alula given the sinuous nature of the run-in.

-4km

We look set to get a sprint featuring men like Mads Pedersen and Olav Kooij, as anticipated at the beginning of the day, but Paris-Nice is always, always capable of throwing up late surprises.

-3km

Sam Bennett and Arnaud Demare are other fast men still in the mix here, and both riders are eager indeed for a victory this week...

Dylan Groenewegen is also well placed near the front, while Sam Bennett and Matteo Trentin are also moving up.

-2km

A delegation from Tudor hits the front of the peloton on behalf of Matteo Trentin. Laurence Pithie has numbers from Groupama-FDJ with him too. Jayco-Alula, meanwhile, seem to be set up for Luka Mezgec. 

-1.5km

Tudor, Jayco and Decathlon-AG2R vie for supremacy as they approach the final kilometre.

Jayco-Alula lead beneath the flamme rouge but they swing off when they realise Groenewegen is missing...

Ryan Gibbons leads out the sprint for Mads Pedersen...

Pedersen hits the front from distance, but he may have gone too early...

Pascal Ackermann vies with Pedersen, but then Olav Kooij kicks for home...

Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease A Bike) wins stage 5 of Paris-Nice in Sisteron

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) holds on for second ahead of Pascal Ackermann. 

Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R) came through for fourth ahead of Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Result

1 Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease A Bike 4:23:44

2 Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek

3 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Israel Premier Tech

4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon-AG2R

5 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe

6 Tobias Lund Andresen (Den) Team dsm-firmenich PostNL

7 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling

8 Laurence Pithie (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

9 Madis Mihkels (Est) Intermarché-Wanty

10 Dusan Rajovic (Ser) Bahrain Victorious

Luke Plapp (Jayco-Alula) retains the yellow jersey ahead of Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates).

Kooij's second win of this Paris-Nice was a classic victory of strength and nous. While Pedersen looked to bludgeon his way from distance Kooij was happy to enter the final 500m in eighth wheel or so. He came from a long way back and dived onto Ackermann's wheel in the final 200m before finally opening his effort in earnest within sight of the line to claim an emphatic win.

General classification

1 Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco-Alula 17:38:48

2 Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:13

3 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:27

4 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:29

5 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep 0:00:30

6 Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:40

7 Chris Harper (Aus) Jayco-Alula 0:00:46

8 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease A Biek 0:00:52

9 Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:54

10 Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:02

Olav Kooij on his second win of the week: "It was quite a tough day. With the headwind, it was very hard to control a strong breakaway, especially after two strong guys bridged across, so we had to work for it all day. That meant that in the final most teams didn’t have many guys left to control, so I had to find my way and luckily I was able to open up.

"The first day was a perfect start but in the second sprint we made some mistakes. Today we committed to it with the whole team, and I’m very happy to win my second stage. For me it’s been a great week, but we have other goals for the weekend with Matteo [Jorgenson] and Wilco [Kelderman].”

Luke Plapp defends yellow: "It was nice, the sun was out and the French roads were beautiful today, I really enjoyed it. It was super fast and frantic finish trying to catch the break. Unfortunately, Dylan just couldn’t quite get up there for the sprint in the end, but it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed being in yellow."

The Australian makes light of his positioning in the finale: "I was at the front for most of the day and then at the back when the sprinters came out to play, I knew with the 3k rule I'd be safe if there was an incident."

And tomorrow's stage? "I'm not sure. Originally we came into the week trying to win tomorrow with Michael [Matthews]. I think the focus will be on defending the jersey now."

A full report, results and pictures from today's stage are available here.

Thanks for joining our live coverage of stage 5 of Paris-Nice. We'll be back with more from tomorrow's stage to La Colle-sur-Loup, a day that could take on even greater significance given the uncertainty over the weekend's summit finish at Auron.