Olav Kooij takes win on Tour of Britain opener - Visma sprinter completes perfect team leadout

The Tour of Britain has begun this Tuesday afternoon and in the opening bunch sprint we've almost had a big surprise. However, Team Visma | Lease a Bike completed a strong leadout to deliver Olav Kooij into the victory on stage 1.

The opening stage of the race took place between Woodbridge and Southwold. It was a pan-flat day without any climbs or difficulties that would jeoperdize a bunch sprint.

Several teams worked in the head of the peloton to control a breakaway of four including Milan Lanhove, Diego Uriarte, Victor Vercouillie and Joshua Golliker. The quartet held steady throughout the day but was ultimately caught by the peloton, with Vercouillie being the final survivor into the final 5 kilometers.

Visma had the men in front towards the final kilometer and Matthew Brennan led out Olav Kooij into the slight uphill final sprint. However Decathlon's Tord Gudmestad launched his sprint first and with unbelievable speed, almost surprising the entire field. Only Kooij could hold his wheel, who then came around in the final meters of the stage. Hugo Hofstetter finished the day in third place.