Olav Kooj on his way out from Jumbo-Visma, Team DSM prime contender to sign Dutch sprinter
CyclingTuesday, 09 May 2023 at 10:34
Olav Kooij has been developing over the last few years as one of the most promising and talented sprinters in the peloton, but within Jumbo-Visma he has not found his spot and will be leaving at the end of 2023.
After developing within the team's under-23 squad, Kooij turned pro in early 2021. He was quick to show his talent and took his first pro wins that year at the Cro Race. In 2022 he established himself as one of the fastest men in the peloton with wins at the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe, Tour de Hongrie, ZLM Tour, Tour de Pologne, Tour of Denmark and Sparkassen Münsterland Giro.
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On multiple occasions he beat World Tour competition including compatriots such as Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen. He was only 20 years old but a natural, having won two stage-races from the ones above revealing even more versatility. This year he's won a stage at Paris-Nice, as well as finishing second at the Classic Brugge-De Panne and eighth at Gent-Wevelgem.
However, in a team with so much quality, a pure sprinter doesn't have a leading position. Despite his talent Koiij is set to race his third year as a pro and with no plans to race a Grand Tour. With an incredible classics block and the Grand Tours being led by Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert, the Dutchman is left to race a modest calendar. Team DSM is said to be the prime contender to sign Kooij, however a report from Het Laatste Nieuws also points to the interest of several French teams.
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- Utter stupidity. HE the the premier rider for them. Why is he pacing someone else who has not even proven themselves. That too in the light of the TT to come. 5 mil for domestique . One wont see these antics from Pogi or Jonas unless they are completely out.abstractengineer03-05-2025
- It's irrelevant whether the riders will oppose safety measures or not. The UCI have demonstrated time and again that they don't care what the riders think. The UCI will implement whatever they want (which based on recent history, has nothing related to rider safety anyway). Also, it's not like the riders have a vote anyway, so it's a hilarious and irrelevant point that you are making.Pogboom03-05-2025
- He forgets Landa, Merlier who have won or come close. if Remco leaves you simply become a sprint oriented team with talent already present. Sponsors have Remco on this team they are not going to get that chance with the big teams anyway when Remco moves. Also Remco's value isnt as high as before due to Pogi and Jonasabstractengineer03-05-2025
- The root cause of most crashes are the riders and do you know who will oppose the introduction of a new safety device-The riders.abstractengineer03-05-2025
- you’re everything wrong about our worldmij03-05-2025
- "Mathieu has also cleaned up everything on the road in the past two years" This year he was given a fight by Pogi in MSR and PR. and he was defeated in Flanders. In other races he is not even close to winning. There was no cleanup.abstractengineer03-05-2025
- Surely people had more fun watching you and your old "coworkers" saving energy for 4-5 hours and attacking the last 500 meters. Uff.. very funny. Typical resentful "old" cyclists against an incredibly talented (and disruptive) young man.
maria2024202403-05-2025 - What's more pressure than trying to beat MVDP in a one-day sprinter's classic? It's like trying to win a grand tour stage in a bunch sprint.. They both put each other in the pressure cooker, but JV needs to win, in my opinion, more than TP. Throw in Primoz and Remco in the climber's mix, and its going to be an exciting TDF.FredMan03-05-2025
- You're saying you'd rather believe LA than TP? Both great competitors but 2 different personalities altogether..FredMan03-05-2025
- Oh hey, thats a period and not a comma! You’re right. I did misread that. My apologies to the original post! Sorry ‘bout that, abstractengineer, thanks for pointing this out, mij.RidesHills03-05-2025
It makes sense....sort of. Obviously a team with one of the best GC riders in the world *and* one of the best classics riders (not to mention a top sprinter himself) has limited opportunity for a pure sprinter. And as riders and course designers move more towards versatility, pure sprinters are just not as important than they once were.
Still, Olav is a huge talent and I thought TJV might find a way. I'm also surprised that DSM is the apparent destination. Just another indication, I suppose, of how devalued pure sprinters have become.