2026 Tour de France: Preview of Stage 5: A sigh of relief for the sprinters

​Key information about Stage 5 of the 2026 Tour de France

• Wednesday, 8 July: Lannemezan – Pau
• 158.3 kilometres, 1,600 metres of elevation gain (flat)
• Mountain sections: KM 132.7 (Category 3)
• Intermediate sprint: KM 113.5
• Start: 2.05 pm, Finish: approx. 5.37 pm
• Live updates and results

The route of the 5th stage of the Tour de France

The “Gateway to the Pyrenees” will kick off the battle for the Green Jersey in 2026. Pau is set to host the first real sprint of this Tour de France after just under 160 kilometres. However, the day will begin in Lannemezan. This small town, with a population of 6,000, is actually even closer to the mountains, but unlike Pau – which is more than ten times its size – it has not yet made a name for itself on the Tour. Whilst Pau can look back on 76 appearances as a start or finish location and has been part of the Tour almost twice as often, placing it third behind Paris and Bordeaux as the most frequently visited locations on the Tour de France, Lannemezan is taking part for the sixth time this year.

Leaving the town, the route heads north for 70 kilometres before changing direction at Montesquiou. Up to that point, the route is mostly slightly downhill, with the odd small hill being the exception. Once the route turns south-west towards Pau, the hills remain a feature of the route. A good 25 kilometres before the finish, the day’s only mountain classification (Category 3) is contested on the last of three consecutive small undulations. Here, the gradient steepens to almost nine per cent for a kilometre.

The remaining stretch to the finish line presents no further topographical difficulties, and the approach to the finish itself is easy to navigate. The last sharp bend is just before the Teufelslappen; after that, there are only two gentle bends, with the final 600 metres running completely straight ahead.

A sporting analysis of Stage 5 of the 2026 Tour de France

​It is rare in a Grand Tour for a genuine bunch sprint to become a likely prospect by the 5th stage. Is this simply down to the circumstances in the host cities, or a deliberate move to further accelerate the decline of classic flat stages – and with them, the pure sprinters – a trend fuelled in part by A.S.O.? At least on the home straight in Pau, this will be of little consequence to Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) in particular – arguably the finest examples of classic sprinters in the peloton.

However, the list of riders looking to make their mark on the race will be considerably longer. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Premier Tech) is on it, as are Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek) and Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team). And, of course, the three German hopefuls – Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain – Victorious) and Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla) – who all want to realise their dream of a stage win at the Tour. They won’t get a much better opportunity than this one in Pau.

There are bound to be attacks and gaps in the peloton on the Hügeltriple at the mountain classification, but the stretch to the finish should be long enough to sort things out again.