Visma admit they "cannot say that Olav Kooij will definitely stay with our team" as Tour de France dream grows for sprint sensation
Cycling
Olav Kooij has emerged as one of the peloton's leading sprinters over the last couple of seasons. On his Grand Tour debut at the 2024 Giro d'Italia, the Dutchman immediately added a Grand Tour stage win to his palmares too, proving his pedigree. As the dream of a Tour de France appearance grows though, could Kooij be forced to leave Team Visma | Lease a Bike?
Given Visma's very prominent focus on the general classification at the Tour de France over recent years, the chances are slim that Kooij could force selection for the sport's most watched race. As Grischa Niermann, Head of Racing at Team Visma | Lease a Bike explains though, it's not completely out of the question. "It is not impossible to send Kooij and Jonas Vingegaard to the Tour together one day," Niermann admits to Sporza, although he does see difficulties. "Olav is of course a sprinter. On the penultimate climb he will no longer be doing any work at the front of the peloton. Then the media will say that we made a mistake by taking a sprinter to the Tour."
Because of Kooij desire to race the Tour de France though, as mentioned, the prospects of a split between the Dutch sprinter and the Visma team are growing. "I cannot say at the moment that Olav will definitely stay with our team 100%," Niermann says honestly. "It is about opportunities and money, we will discuss that during the season."
Returning to the Giro d'Italia this year though, Kooij has definitely been backed by Visma, with Wout van Aert set to be his superstar leadout man. "That was also the initial goal last year: riding the Giro together with Wout. But for the well-known reason (Van Aert crashing at Dwars door Vlaanderen) that didn't happen then", recalls Kooij. "The sprint stages that are a bit more difficult are for Wout. The flatter sprinter finishes are my thing. Deep into the final of those stages, Wout has a lot more surplus than any other rider, which makes him the ideal lead-out."
It's not just in the Grand Tours where Kooij is dreaming either. "I have never ridden most of the hills in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in a race. But I have already reconnoitered a few this winter. In Kuurne, it is usually a game between the peloton and the attackers. We are strong enough in breadth to be well represented on both fronts," he reveals. "The Kemmelberg is always a painful and crucial moment in the race. But I always had a good experience there in the 2 times that I rode Gent-Wevelgem. If it were to come together after the Kemmelberg and there would be a sprint for the win, I hope to be there."
Even the monuments are in Kooij's focus for the coming years. "There is always hope for the sprinters at Milano-Sanremo. But the race is getting harder and harder on the Cipressa. I will go for it and see where that takes me," he concludes.
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- agreed. flanders is a beast. i like tadej, but i’m full on rooting for mathieu next sunday.OCexile29-03-2025
- Indeed, strong as ever on the flat, maybe stronger on climbs. There are very few records within reach for contemporary riders (Cabendish had to extend his career to get his and took twice as long as Merckx to equality), this would be one that would be very hard to take away.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- I thought newspeak was condensing any statement into the smallest number of pertinent words.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- flanders is mvdp’s favorite race and he’s one win away from being the lone record holder with 4 wins. i’d be very surprised if the gap that pogačar opened in him there 2 years ago wasn’t THE major focus of all his training. and when mathieu has a goal, he turns himself inside out to achieve it. we’ll see next week if he got there, but i’d agree with van avermat’s assessment of van der poel’s fitness.OCexile29-03-2025
- It’s almost like newspeak. It’s classics season, Pogacar’s main rival has always been van der Poel. Then grand tour season will begin, and we will pivot mid sentence and Pogacar’s main rival will have always been Vingegaard. What a season this promises to be. Let’s hope they stay healthy (and Vingegaard gets past the concussion).RidesHills29-03-2025
- Great that he’s decided to do Flanders though his weight remark is irrelevant, Mads is proportionately heavier and MVDP has the same weight but is around 10cm shorter.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- Yeah, looks slow up there.Jumpyjohn28-03-2025
- lol His aim was well off! MVP was well past him before the guy decided to spit.Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025
- But you know that’s what makes this website live ;-)Mistermaumau28-03-2025
- I hope he stays upright too and I hope that in this years Paris Roubaix we get a proper good old fashioned man against man race. Can't wait!Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025