"The final was perfect for Mads Pedersen and it is a lot of fun to beat him" - Olav Kooij takes blistering sprint win on stage 1 of Paris-Nice 2024

Olav Kooij has moved into the overall lead at Paris-Nice 2024 after sprinting to victory on the opening stage ahead of Mads Pedersen in Les Mureaux.

"We knew it was going to be a tough stage," the Team Visma | Lease a Bike star reflected afterwards in his post-stage interview. "I really had to work my way up there. However, the team kept me in a good position at the end and we also knew that the stage would end in a sprint. The final was perfect for Mads Pedersen and it is a lot of fun to beat him. Especially because of my victory last year, I am happy that I came back here this year."

Whilst many of the GC contenders came to the fore on the stage, including Kooij's teammate, Matteo Jorgenson, who took bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, the bunch sprint was the eventual finale and with his win, Kooij moves into the leader's Yellow Jersey.

"It is really nice to wear the yellow leader's jersey, especially for a team like Visma | Lease a Bike," Kooij says happily. "In any case, I will do my best the next few days and tomorrow there will be another chance for the sprinters."