“Olav is doing well,” Reef begins. “After the Tour of Poland he fell ill, which meant he couldn’t start in the Cyclassics Hamburg. Fortunately, he was able to put in some good training sessions last weekend and is fit enough to start.”

Kooij will be one of the team’s main spearheads in the Renewi Tour, with a clear goal. “We aim for stage wins with Olav. The competition in the sprints is strong, but we’ve built a solid team around him. There are several stages where we hope to make use of these strengths,” Reef explains.

The five-day WorldTour race, which starts in Terneuzen in the Dutch province of Zeeland, features three stages that are likely to end in bunch sprints. The traditional queen stage to Geraardsbergen is once again included in the route, while the final stage in and around Leuven also features significant elevation. Team Visma | Lease a Bike hopes to play its part there as well.

“With Christophe (Laporte), we have someone who normally performs well on that kind of terrain,” says the Dutch sports director. “Of course, it’s a bit of a wait-and-see how he feels, since this is only his second race of the season. But we know Christophe can reach his level quickly. We’re not putting any pressure on him. It would be great if he can play a meaningful role, but if not, that’s understandable.”

Reef is above all pleased that Laporte can finally pin on a race number again. “For Christophe, it’s a huge relief to be back in the peloton, and for us it’s also very positive. Christophe is a fantastic rider to have in the line-up, with an incredible range of qualities.”

Alongside Kooij and Laporte, Edoardo Affini, Attila Valter, Julien Vermote, Dan McLay and Menno Huising complete the seven-man line-up for Team Visma | Lease a Bike.