Olav Kooji: "Unfortunately, I didn't have the legs to finish today"

Olav Kooij had to settle for second place on the third day of the ZLM Tour. The leader of Jumbo-Visma was beaten in the bunch sprint in Buchten by Jakub Mareczko.

"I have a bit of a double feeling," he said. "We knew it would be a stage that could make a difference in the general classification. When we got through the hill zone, we knew we were heading for a sprint. From then on the focus was on the day's victory and the guys rolled out the red carpet for me," said Kooji.

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He was unable to match Jakub Mareczko's sprint, heading into a second place which has nevertheless got him to extend his lead over the majority of the competition. "I, unfortunately, didn't have the legs to finish today. That's sad, but it was a fair sprint," said Kooij, who is still the leader in the general classification. With two stages to go, he has a twelve-second lead on the Alpecin-Fenix rider.