A group of escapees was caught in the last local lap, after which the peloton could prepare for a bunch sprint. The neo-pro was brought in well by his young teammates and Mike Teunissen, but could not beat Theuns. For Kooij it is his first podium place as a professional at Team Jumbo-Visma.

Kooij knew, given the length of the stage, that it was going to be a nervous race. “With a distance of ninety-two kilometres and the local circuits, the race was a kind of criterium race. This was also reflected in the nervousness in the peloton. Mike started the sprint, which allowed me to come from behind with speed. Unfortunately I was just not fast enough. This week was the first time that we really worked with a lead-out in a field with quite a few sprinters. Every day we tried to implement our plan as well as possible. We did things well every stage, but there were certainly things we could learn from. We will take that to the next races.”

Sports director Frans Maassen had seen his young team grow during the week. “The combination of the young men and Mike went well. It got better and better and we showed ourselves every day. Unfortunately we just didn’t manage to win a stage, but we were close several times. There was a good atmosphere in the team and I think everyone learned a lot from it.”

Teunissen made his comeback in the peloton after an injury. “It was certainly exciting for him”, Maassen continued. “Mike had been out for a long time and then you always have to wait and see how you are doing when you come back. He has done well and can look ahead with confidence.”