After having postponed the start of his season due to a lingering virus, Olav Kooij claimed three victories in a short time, starting with two stage wins at Boucles de la Mayenne at the end of May, and then added the stage 4 win at Baloise Belgium Tour on Saturday.
Not only was the Decathlon CMA CGM rider the fastest in Belgium, but he also outsprinted Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) in a hectic finale.
The Dutch sprinter agreed that beating proven fastmen like Merlier and Philipsen, both former Tour de France stage winners, with Philipsen also a green jersey winner, gave him confidence heading into the rest of the season. He then hinted that the Tour de France itself may be on his radar this year.
"I assume I can also fight duels with those men in the Tour, that's something to look forward to,” Kooij said in Dutch after winning Baloise Belgium Tour stage 4, according to a report in Wielerflits.
“This [victory] gives a lot of satisfaction. Especially after a missed start, it's extra nice to return like this. I think we handled it well by first fully restoring and then rebuilding. The result is that I am now immediately returning to my old level.”
In the chaotic finale, Kooij lost his teammates and had to surf wheels until he slotted behind Merlier and used the slipstream to take a photo-finish victory.
It is no secret that Kooij transferred from Visma-Lease a Bike to the French WorldTour team to get more opportunities to lead a sprint train at the Tour de France. But illness delayed that debut, and in the meantime, teammate Paul Seixas enjoyed a meteoric early season, earning himself a fast-tracked spot at the 2026 Tour.
Whether the team decide to take Kooij remains to be seen, but either way, Seixas is bound to be the focal point of this squad.
