14/10/2023

"This is a textbook team victory" - Olav Kooij delighted to see hard work rewarded with Tour of Guangxi stage win

After coming close but ultimately missing out on victory in the first two day of racing in China, Olav Kooij secured himself the stage win on stage 3, powering to bunch sprint glory.

“It's a great feeling to win a stage this week. It was a difficult final. The climb was quite tough. I had a difficult moment, but the work of the team allowed me to return to the peloton," recaps the Dutch sprint prodigy to his Jumbo-Visma team's official website post-stage. "I felt good and was able to start my sprint at a good time. Luckily I was able to finish it. I am very grateful to the boys for their hard work. This is a textbook team victory."

Olav Kooij takes victory on stage 3 of the Tour of Guangxi; Dries de Bondt takes overall race lead

Finishes of 5th and 7th in the opening two stages showed signs of promise for Kooij on the first two stages and sports director Maarten Wynants was happy to see it all come together on stage 3.

"We had to wait and see whether it would come to a bunch sprint today,” Wynants assessed. “We left control to a number of other teams. During the ride it became clear that a lot of teams would benefit from a sprint. Olav had a hard time on the steep climb, but thanks to the hard work of his teammates, he was able to sprint at the end of the stage. He then finishes it off beautifully. After the somewhat disappointing results in the first two stages, this is a nice boost. You can rightly say that this is a victory for the entire team.”