"This shows the strength of Jumbo-Visma" - Olav Kooij third behind Laporte and Van Aert at European Championships

Third place at the European Championships men's elite road race marks a very impressive performance from 21-year-old Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij.

“I had the idea that we would make that last push in the last hundred meters, but Christophe caught us super strong,” said an exhausted Kooij in his post-race interview with Wielerflits after finishing third behind two of his Jumbo-Visma teammates, France's Christophe Laporte and Belgium's Wout van Aert.

Laporte had attacked solo with 12km to go but in the finale looked to be tying up as a rampant van Aert, Kooij and Arnaud De Lie neared only to find a second wind and hold on for the victory. "It took a lot of strength to ride up that penultimate climb. You will notice this on the last climb when you are sprinting uphill. Your legs are definitely full," Kooij recalls. "I was able to jump along nicely with Laporte, which meant we were ahead of the selection. A lap later he does the same and now he was left alone."

After Jumbo-Visma's historic 1-2-3 at the Vuelta a Espana, the continued dominance of the team is there for all to see. "We all ride here for our country, with our own interests. But ultimately this shows the strength of Jumbo-Visma," says Kooij with a smile before concluding. "Of course you want to win, but if you look back and don't see any major mistakes, you have to be satisfied with it.”