2023 Paris-Nice Stage 5 Results & Recap
Stage 5 of the 2023 Paris-Nice is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Kooij wins stage 5
Jumbo Visma's Olav Kooij sprinted to victory at the longest stage of this year's edition of Paris Nice, outgunning former world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) in a thrilling finale.
"This is really nice," Kooij said after the 212km stage. "I won a few races also last year but it is definitely the best one so far. I was a bit far in the finale but then I took the left side of the roundabout. It was the good choice, it put me in a quite good position behind Mads Pedersen and I was able to overtake him. Coming close, coming second is not bad but it’s victory that matters. I’m happy to be able to do it today. I’m glad for the team, after the team time trial to win this stage."
Tadej Pogacar remains in yellow but lost a few precious seconds to David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) in the intermediate sprint. He's now six seconds ahead of the Frenchman, while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) is third at 46 seconds.
"I enjoyed my first day in yellow on Paris-Nice," Pogacar said. "It was a nice day, with sun finally and no stress, so it was really a nice day. I know the climbs in the last stage really well because it’s almost my home training loop. But I don’t know the roads tomorrow and the day after. It was published too late for me to do the recon. I think even tomorrow is going to be really stressful. It’s the classic stage in which anything can happen, a lot of surprises. Saturday we will have to manage the effort to the top. I love the final stage, it’s really interesting. In the intermediate sprint, the tension was rising before the climb. We saw a lot of riders who wanted to go for it. And then I did a mistake. I tried to pass on the right but it wasn’t possible."
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