Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) claimed a huge victory on stage 1 of the Boucles de la Mayenne, sprinting clear to claim his first win on only his second day of racing in 2026.
A stage of the small four-day French race is hardly the biggest race on Kooij's palmarès, but given where he's come from this season, it might be among the most important.
The Dutch sprinter, who made a high-profile transfer from Visma-Lease a Bike to Decathlon CMA CGM over the winter, had been sidelined by a virus since the start of the year, and he only pulled on the colours of his new team for the first time in competition in Thursday's prologue.
Friday's stage 1 was his first opportunity to sprint, and he produced a storming kick on the slightly uphill drag in Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne to raise his arms at the first true time of asking.
"I really didn't expect this, but sometimes you just need to believe," Kooij said.
"Thanks to the team, because my teammates for sure believed I could do a good result here and they did great work all day. After those months, to come back like this is super nice."
The Frenchman navigated a hectic run-in to put himself in a good position through the right-hand bend that led into the home straight with 600 metres to go. When he saw some daylight open up, he didn't hesitate to hit out with just over 150m to go.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) hit out on the left but faded, while Kooij managed to hold his speed and hold off his charging rivals to win by a wheel.
Alessio Magagnotti (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies) was the rider who came through for second place, ahead of Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) in third. Pedersen was seventh in the end.
"It was a fast day," said Kooij. "We all knew the last corner was quite important, we had a good plan with the team and once I saw the finish line I thought I just need to sprint."
The victory will do wonders for Kooij's confidence, and for the team as a whole after they made such an outlay on him and built a key part of their squad around him.
The win also raises Kooij's hopes that he can compete as planned in the Tour de France, with his illness and the rise of GC talent Paul Seixas casting doubt on his role for July.
"I don't think today was much about the win, to be honest," Kooij said. "Of course, the last years I would always be going full gas for the win but today was just about be enjoying being back in the bunch, after such a long period without racing, just enjoying doing what I love the most was already a win."
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