Olav came to the team in 2020 at just 18 years after two successful years as a junior, and he started off like a rocket. In his first four races, his worst result was a second place, and he took home three victories. The year was split up by the Covid epidemi, but that didn’t stop Olav from making his debut for the WorldTour team in the Czech Tour, where he finished fourth on the flat stage two. A few weeks later, he took his first professional victory on the first stage of Settimana Coppi e Bartali, a victory he still cherishes to this day. He ended the year by winning both stages and the overall classification at the Orlens Nations Grand Prix for the Dutch selection, making his first year with the development team a year to remember. 

With his impressive showings in 2020, Olav earned his place on the WorldTour team already in February 2021, where he was made an official WorldTour rider. The first months on the WorldTour resulted in his first experiences with Belgian classics, and multiple solid placings on sprint stages, including second on stage three of the Tour of Poland, his first WorldTour stage race. And, with his habit of winning, Olav obviously couldn’t go a full season without lifting his arms, so in Cro Race at the end of September, Olav made sure to take home two stage wins. Once again, he finished the year on a high with the victories in Croatia and a podium spot in the highly contested Gran Piemonte.  

Some would argue Olav’s breakthrough has already come, and if it hadn’t, it certainly did in 2022. This year, Olav didn’t stop winning, but first he had to accept multiple top-5's in impressive sprinting fields at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico. After another top-5 in the Classic Brugge-De Panne, two stage wins and an overall triumph in Circuit Cycliste Sarthe followed, and from there on, things went fast. Another stage win in Tour de Hongrie, three stage wins and the overall in ZLM Tour, his first WorldTour win in Tour of Poland, and two stage wins in Tour of Denmark, before beating Jasper Philipsen in the Münsterland Giro, made the year an incredible success. By the end of 2022, Olav had established himself as the man to challenge the biggest sprinters in the years to come. 

In 2023, Olav once again came close to winning a stage in the stacked UAE Tour, but instead the biggest win of his career so far came in Paris-Nice, where he beat Mads Pedersen and Tim Merlier in the tricky fifth stage. The win was a sign that Olav had developed into more than just a pure sprinter, and shortly after he confirmed that by taking second in an epic version of the Classic Brugge-De Panne, where only four riders made it to the finish in the first group. Wins in 4 Jours de Dunkerque, Heistse Pijl, and ZLM Tour once again followed, before he came back to Tour of Poland to take his second WorldTour stage win of the year. In the Tour of Britain in he linked up with Wout van Aert in a memorable race, where the Belgian set up Olav to win the first four stages of the race, before the roles swapped and Wout took the fifth. Finally, two stage wins in the Tour of Guangxi closed off the season for Olav.

Olav’s schedule almost exclusively included WorldTour races in 2024, meaning the competition would always be formidable, but that didn’t stop him from winning. Finally, the stage win in the UAE Tour arrived, and he added a further two in Paris-Nice in March. In May, Olav made his Grand Tour debut in the Giro d’Italia, and in Napoli on stage nine, his very first Grand Tour stage win was a reality after an incredible sprint against Jonathan Milan. Sadly, his first Grand Tour was also cut short, as he was hit by illness on the following rest day. Two more stage wins in Tour of Poland, a happy hunting ground for Olav, and his first WorldTour classic win at Bemer Cyclassics put the icing on the cake on yet another big year. 

This season turned out to be Olav’s last with Team Visma | Lease a Bike, but what a season it was. Already in February, he took two wins in the Tour of Oman, and later he added a hard-fought, rain-soaked triumph in Tirreno–Adriatico on a day when few sprinters survived. A good start to the season was put in jeopardy when Olav broke his collarbone in Gent–Wevelgem after making it into the winning move. In a race against time, he recovered for the Giro d’Italia, and after a tough start to the race for the whole team, everything clicked on stage 12, where a beautiful lead-out set him up for his second Grand Tour stage win. The third also came in Italy, as the Bees completed a fantastic second half of the Giro with Simon Yates’ overall win and Olav’s victory in Rome on the final day. Olav spent the rest of the season racking up more wins in races like the Tour of Poland, Renewi Tour and Tour of Britain, before taking his last win in black and yellow at the Grand Prix d’Isbergues. From next year on, he will join Decathlon–CMA CGM Team, and we wish Olav all the best for the future. His rise from the Development Team to the WorldTour is something we will always share.

To celebrate the many big wins Olav took in our colors, we asked him to choose his ten best. You can watch them by clicking here.