LOME, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Pijl Van Der Niels from the Netherlands on Saturday won the fifth stage Tchamba-Blitta of the 26th international cycling race of Togo, organizers said.

Van Der Niels finished the 124-km stage in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 9 seconds, with an average cycling speed of 42 km per hour.

Belgian rider Stein Van Couter came second as he finished the stage in 2 hours, 44 minutes and 24 seconds, followed by another Dutch rider Merx Peter in the third place at 2:44:24.

The yellow jersey holder Cisse Issiaka from Cote d'Ivoire finished tenth at the eve of the last and sixth stage of 80km to be contested on Sunday.

Only 66 riders out of a total of 76 who took the start on 11 April of the international cycling race of Togo finished the fifth stage on Saturday.