"We are going to take a quick look to see exactly what the damage is" - Olav Kooij suffering after stage 2 crash at Giro d'Italia

Although the summit finish atop Oropa was never going to be a day targeted by Team Visma | Lease a Bike sprinter Olav Kooij, a crash midway through the stage was far from the perfect scenario.

“It's never nice, of course,” the 22-year-old Dutchman reflected post-stage in conversation with Eurosport. “At first I really had problems with my knee, but at a certain point it seemed to be not too bad. We are going to take a quick look to see exactly what the damage is.”

Suffering several abrasions to his knee, Kooij seemed in some difficulty as he attempted to remount the bike and get back underway following the crash. Nevertheless, the Grand Tour debutant managed to continue on and finish the mountainous 65km remaining of the stage.

“There was some gravel. I didn't see that. Then I fell," Kooij says of the incident itself before concluding with renewed optimism. “I was able to finish well today. It is never pleasant of course, not even for your recovery. But tomorrow we will leave again with good courage.”