It was the moment Max Kanter had been building up to: in the mass sprint in Pau, the 28-year-old from Team XDS Astana, hailing from Cottbus, surged to second place—only denied victory by the unstoppable Olav Kooij. The Dutchman from Decathlon-CMA CGM claimed the first sprint finish of this year’s Tour de France, ahead of Kanter and Belgian Tim Merlier. For German cycling fans, the wait for a stage win at the Tour drags on—five years and counting.
Pascal Ackermann (Kandel/Jayco-AlUla) and Phil Bauhaus (Bocholt/Bahrain Victorious), who spent his 32nd birthday in the saddle, both missed out on a top-ten finish. Kanter had already shown his form earlier, taking second in the intermediate sprint behind Frenchman Baptiste Veistroffe, who had led for much of the day.
“It was pretty nervous in the peloton,” Kanter told ARD. “Everyone wanted to be at the front, which made it extremely stressful. Everyone was fighting for the right position.” In the end, he nailed his positioning perfectly.
The 158.3 km stage, largely flat and under scorching heat, had offered little drama early on. Veistroffe of Lotto Intermarché played the lone entertainer up front for a long stretch, before the sprinters’ teams took control 15 km from the finish and reeled in the breakaway. The finale saw several crashes spark chaos, but the big names stayed safe.
Defending champion Tadej Pogačar and rival Jonas Vingegaard rolled in comfortably with the peloton. Overall leader Torstein Træen, in yellow since Tuesday, defended his lead with ease—7:53 minutes now separate him from Pogačar, currently fourth.
As early as Thursday, stage six delivers the first major mountain showdown: the legendary Col d’Aspin and Tourmalet set the scene, before the final ascent to the Cirque de Gavarnie could force the favorites into an all-out battle for the win.
