Olav Kooij of the Netherlands sprinted to victory in the fifth stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race on Thursday, his second victory in this year's race.
The Visma-Lease rider crossed the line after a bunch sprint ahead of Dane Mads Pedersen who the 22-year-old also beat in the first stage last Sunday.
"Today we just committed. We had a great plan and I'm very happy I could take my second win," said Kooij.
🏆 🇳🇱 Olav Kooij triomphe encore !
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 7, 2024
🏆🇳🇱 Olav Kooij wins again!#ParisNice pic.twitter.com/b85TDRaDtI
Germany's Pascal Ackermann finished third after the hilly 193.5km ride from Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut to Sisteron.
Australian Luke Plapp of Jayco-AlUla holds the overall leader's yellow jersey in the 'Race to the Sun' with a 13-second advantage on Colombia's Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) with three stages to go.
"I love being in yellow," said Plapp.
"I'm not sure about tomorrow. Originally, we came here trying to win that stage... (now) the focus will be to defend the jersey."
Looking forward to the weekend, the weather is set to take a bad turn, both for Friday's stage, between Sisteron and La Colle-sur-Loup, and the penultimate stage on Saturday with snow forecast at the finish line in Auron.
Race organisers are still waiting for the latest forecasts before possibly proposing an alternative arrival destination for Saturday.
Of the pre-race favourites, Remco Evenepoel remains fifth in the general ranking and Primoz Roglic lies 15th, 30 seconds and 1min 10sec behind the leader respectively.
☀️ Classements après l'étape 5 / Rankings after stage 5 ☀️
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 7, 2024
💛🇦🇺 @LucasPlapp
💚🇩🇰 @Mads__Pedersen
⚪🔴🇨🇵 @mat_burgaudeau
🤍🇦🇺 @LucasPlapp
💪🇨🇵 @p_latour
🏆🇳🇱 Olav Kooij#ParisNice pic.twitter.com/84fJDUABNO
STAGE FIVE RESULTS
1. Olav Kooij (NED) Team 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 - La Mondiale Team "
5. Danny van Poppel (NED) BORA - hansgrohe "
6. Tobias Andresen (DEN) Team dsm-firmenich - PostNL "
7. Matteo Trentin (ITA) Tudor Pro Cycling Team "
8. Laurence Pithie (NZL) Groupama - FDJ "
9. Madis Mihkels (EST) Intermarché - Wanty "
10. Dušan Rajovic (SRB) Bahrain Victorious "
11. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education - EasyPost "
12. Anthony Turgis (FRA) TotalEnergies "
13. Cédric Beullens (BEL) Lotto - Dstny "
14. Arnaud Démare (FRA) Arkéa - B&B Hotels "
15. Dries Van Gestel (BEL) TotalEnergies "
16. Yves Lampaert (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step "
17. Jon Barrenetxea (ESP) Movistar Team "
18. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Team Jayco - AlUla "
19. Bryan Coquard (FRA) Cofidis "
20. Chris Harper (AUS) Team Jayco - AlUla "
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Lucas Plapp (AUS) Team Jayco - AlUla 17:38:48
2. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious +13
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates +27
4. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +29
5. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +30
6. Egan Bernal (COL) INEOS Grenadiers +40
7. Chris Harper (AUS) Team Jayco - AlUla +46
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +52
9. Rigoberto Urán (COL) EF Education - EasyPost +54
10. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers +1:02
11. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon - AG2R - La Mondiale Team "
12. Harold Tejada (COL) Astana - Qazaqstan Team +1:03
13. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +1:05
14. Ilan Van Wilder (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step +1:08
15. Primož Roglic (SLO) BORA - hansgrohe +1:10
16. Aurélien Paret-Peintre Decathlon - AG2R - La (FRA) Mondiale Team "
17. Laurens De Plus (BEL) INEOS Grenadiers +1:12
18. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain Victorious +1:13
19. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN) Lidl - Trek +1:27
20. Steff Cras (BEL) TotalEnergies +1:31