"Sprint days aren't completely flat so it makes for some exciting racing" - Olav Kooij doesn't rule out more GC attacks on stage 4 of Giro d'Italia

After a sixth-placed finish in his Grand Tour sprint debut on stage 3 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, Team Visma | Lease a Bike's sprinting prodigy Olav Kooij will likely get another chance for a first career Grand Tour stage win later this afternoon on stage 4.

"The body was feeling good after the crash (Kooij hit the deck on stage 2 ed.), so yeah, I was happy with the feeling yesterday," the 22-year-old Dutchman reflects in a pre-stage 4 interview with Cycling Pro Net. "It was a really slow day. After the intermediate sprint we had a gap so we continued for a bit. It was nice to get some racing."

As mentioned, stage 4 is likely to give the sprinters another chance of glory, although given the late attacks by Tadej Pogacar and Geraint Thomas on stage 3, don't rule out more GC moves. "Hopefully we're up there as a team," Kooij assesses, noting how his sprint goals can co-align with teammate Cian Uijtdebroeks' GC ambitions. "If we're up there with the team, Christophe Laporte and me can go into the final kilometre in a good position."

"It was tough to chase them yesterday, it used a lot of the sprint trains I think," Kooij says about Pogacar and Thomas' late move. "Yesterday's course and also some other sprint days aren't completely flat so it makes for some exciting racing."