"Only he can do it" - Olav Kooij thanks Wout van Aert after important Giro d'Italia victory

Team Visma | Lease a Bike brought Olav Kooij to the Giro d'Italia with the goal of fighting for the flat bunch sprints but until stage 12, things had not clicked. The Dutchman had only participated in two sprints and in the last one he was completely blocked at the finish. Today, the Dutch team thrived with their leadout and delivered Kooij to his first victory in two months.

"We were waiting for this one, or I was waiting. We grew into the race as a team with Simon being in good position, Wout taking that stage win... In the other two sprints I didn't went right so I'm really happy that today we could do it," Kooij said in a post-stage interview. After two in the Tour of Oman and one at Tirreno-Adriatico, this is the fourth victory of the season for the 23-year old.

This came as a result of a spotless leadout from Edoardo Affini and Wout van Aert today, who positioned him perfectly into the finishing straight. "I think so, only he (van Aert, ed.) can do it. To have him as support is extraordinary, I really need to thank him and the rest of the team. They did a fantastic job, so it's thanks to them".

It was a finale with a sharp corner only a few hundred meters away from the finish line and positioning was crucial. Visma timed their effort very well. "For sure you don't want to be too far in the corners, so maybe that's why we said to go a bit earlier than we wanted. So I could jump in the wheel of Casper [van Uden] and beat him".

"There's a lot of good competition, I need to beat them all, that's what we did today". But the race is not over, neither for him or the Dutch squad. "Yeah of course, we try to race our best everyday and aim for wins and good GC with Simon so we're definitely not done yet".