"It feels wonderful to come back like this": Olav Kooij picks up where he left off with immediate sprint win

The 2026 season had lacked one of the world's for a long time, but Olav Kooij is finally back from his persistent health issues. And whilst he makes a racing debut for his new employer, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, the Dutchman has decided to spice things up with an immediate sprint victory on first opportunity.

"Sometimes you just have to believe in it. I have to thank my team. My teammates believed that I could achieve a good result here. They did a great job. For me, it feels wonderful to come back like this after all those months," Kooij said.

Even though the final 500 meters a straight, before came a sharp corner which the Dutchman recognized as a key moment for the sprint: "Everyone expected a sprint, so we all knew that the last corner was very important. We had a good plan with the team. When I saw the finish, I thought: I just have to sprint and see how far I get."

In a competition of Mads Pedersen or former teammate Matthew Brennan, Kooij admitted that to win on first try was quite a surprise to him. "In recent years I always rode to win, but today it was more about enjoying the fact that I am back in the peloton after such a long period without races. I just wanted to enjoy myself and do what I love most."

But it also shows the extremely close level among competitors because his closest opponents today - Alessio Magagnotti, Anthony Turgis and Alessio Delle Vedove - are no household sprinter names (yet).

The Boucles de la Mayenne continue on Saturday with what seems to be a decisive stage of the French race with a massive 215-kilometer stage and a hilly circuit which totals over 3,000 altitude meters. Kooij will look mainly at survival with view to the Sunday's final stage which once again seems like a good chance for sprinters.