"If we can drop him off on the Via Roma, I think he has a very good chance of winning" - Visma bet on sprinter Olav Kooij this Saturday

In the absence of most Visma | Lease a Bike's traditional classics leaders, an opportunity arises at the Milano-Sanremo this Saturday for Olav Kooij. The sprinter displayed great from at recent Tirreno-Adriatico when he beat Mathieu van der Poel, one of the main candidates this weekend, in head-to-head sprint after a hard stage 4.

"What does that tell me?", performance manager Grischa Niermann repeats the question in Het Nieuwsblad. "That Olav is a very good sprinter who has something left after a tough race. But you also know that it is a different story in Milano-Sanremo. In addition to Van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar, Filippo Ganna and Mads Pedersen will also be riding there."

Does Olav Kooij have a chance at Milano-Sanremo? "Olav wants to score and he is our most important asset," Niermann continues. "If we can drop him off on the Via Roma, I think he has a very good chance of winning. He is in very good shape. But we also know that the peloton has to cross the Cipressa and Poggio first. You know that something always happens there, so we certainly don’t think that Olav is going to put everyone on it."

Visma | Lease a Bike will not be fielding Wout van Aert, the winner of La Primavera in 2020, on Saturday. The Belgian is focusing on the cobbled classics, with the two monuments - the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix - at the top of his wish list. Matteo Jorgenson, winner of last year's Dwars door Vlaanderen, will appear at Van Aert's side in a number of cobbled races this spring, despite his undeniable qualities a GC rider.

In the final phases of the race, Kooij should be instead in the care of Ben Tulett (2nd today at Milano-Torino), Hungarian Attila Valter and promising new signing Axel Zingle. Whether the Dutchman will be located near enough the front of the race after Poggio is going to depend also on the way his opponents approach racing. But judging from his 14th place last year, the 23-year-old is not completely without his chances.