After having postponed the beginning of his season on account of a lingering virus, Olav Kooij claimed three victories in a short while, beginning with two stage wins at Boucles de la Mayenne on the finish of Could, after which added the stage 4 win at Baloise Belgium Tour on Saturday.
Not solely was the Decathlon CMA CGM rider the quickest in Belgium, however he additionally outsprinted Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) in a busy finale.
The Dutch sprinter agreed that beating confirmed fastmen like Merlier and Philipsen, each former Tour de France stage winners, with Philipsen additionally a inexperienced jersey winner, gave him confidence heading into the remainder of the season. He then hinted that the Tour de France itself could also be on his radar this yr.
„I assume I may also struggle duels with these males within the Tour, that is one thing to look ahead to,” Kooij stated in Dutch after profitable Baloise Belgium Tour stage 4, in accordance with a report in Wielerflits.
“This [victory] provides a variety of satisfaction. Particularly after a missed begin, it is additional good to return like this. I believe we dealt with it effectively by first totally restoring after which rebuilding. The result’s that I’m now instantly returning to my outdated stage.”
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Within the chaotic finale, Kooij misplaced his teammates and needed to surf wheels till he slotted behind Merlier and used the slipstream to take a photo-finish victory.
It’s no secret that Kooij transferred from Visma-Lease a Bike to the French WorldTour crew to get extra alternatives to guide a dash practice on the Tour de France. However sickness delayed that debut, and within the meantime, teammate Paul Seixas loved a meteoric early season, incomes himself a fast-tracked spot on the 2026 Tour.
Whether or not the crew resolve to take Kooij stays to be seen, however both method, Seixas is sure to be the point of interest of this squad.
