“He deserves our full support" - Team Visma | Lease a Bike back Olav Kooij for Gent Wevelgem success

With the Spring Classics now in full swing, on the 30th of March, Gent Wevelgem is on the cards for the peloton. In their attempts to take victory in Belgium, Team Visma | Lease a Bike are backing their sprint sensation - Olav Kooij.

Kooij secured a very impressive top-10 at Milano-Sanremo last weekend in Italy, his first such finish at a Monument. As such, despite being caught up in a crash at Classic Brugge-De Panne earlier this week, both Visma and Kooij are confident in the 23-year-old Dutchman's chances of getting a good placing at Gent Wevelgem. “There (Milano-Sanremo ed.) he showed that he has taken another step in racing classics this winter. He deserves our full support in Gent Wevelgem," explains Team Visma | Lease a Bike sports director Grischa Niermann in a press release on the team's official website.

"We are going for a sprint with Olav, but in this race every edition is a game between attackers and sprinters," continues Niermann's preview. "A sprint is therefore not a given, but we are going to guide Olav to the finish line as best we can.”

Kooij was part of Visma's team for Gent Wevelgem twelve months ago as Mads Pedersen outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel for the win, eventually coming home in 6th. The Dutchman was also present in 2023, when Visma took victory in a one-two with Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert. “I think it's a very nice race. Especially the edition that Christophe Laporte won on behalf of our team was brilliant because of our excellent team effort," comments Kooij. "The important thing for us is to be attentive in the hilly area and then see what the situation is towards Wevelgem. Hopefully we can create a situation there in which we can fight for the win.”

Olav Kooij
Tiesj Benoot
Tosh van der Sande
Loe van Belle
Daniel McLay
Julien Vermote
Victor Campenaerts