“I was close to the front, so I had to start my sprint, otherwise they would come from behind. When I went, I thought I had a good kick, but it was too long. It was a fair sprint, and I got beaten. We knew that it was going to be a tough day for me, but the legs were good and I could stay in the bunch, even though I was on the limit a few times. It was also a hard finale with the small group ahead,” Olav Kooij said after crossing the line at this year’s Bretagne Classic.

It was a big day in the saddle for the Dutch sprinter and the rest of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike squad in France. 260 kilometers and countless climbs made for a grueling race, where the finale effectively began with 100 kilometers still to go.

Here, Cian Uijtdebroeks attentively followed an early move in one of the most demanding sections of the course. The Belgian got away with a small group but was soon reeled back in. A calmer period in the peloton followed, before the race exploded again inside the final 40 kilometers.

It quickly became clear that the race would be hard to control, and before long Tiesj Benoot was moving toward the front. The Belgian bridged to a small lead group on one of the many steep climbs, but once again the race came back together shortly after, setting up a reduced bunch sprint to decide the outcome.

There, Olav Kooij launched a long sprint on the uphill finish, but in the final 50 meters he was passed by Arnaud De Lie, who claimed victory. Kooij had to settle for third place after an impressive climbing effort.

After the race, sports director Frans Maassen was largely satisfied with his team’s performance in the Bretagne Classic: “We rode the race the way we wanted. We made a small mistake in the pre-finale by being too far behind, but we played the finale very well. Olav was able to sprint for the win, which was our goal, and he put in a strong effort considering how hard the course was. De Lie was simply stronger today,” the sports director concluded.