From the start in Terneuzen, the pace was high right away. With 100 kilometers remaining, the first echelons formed in the peloton, after which a dangerous group of sixteen riders managed to break clear. The black-and-yellow formation took responsibility in the chase.

In the final local lap, the breakaway was eventually caught by the peloton. What followed was a chaotic finale, in which Kooij and Dan McLay crashed with four kilometers to go. After excellent work from Christophe Laporte, Kooij was still able to join the bunch sprint, finishing seventh.

“The damage is fortunately not too bad,” Kooij reflected. “I was able to continue quickly, but of course I had already wasted quite a bit of energy to come back, which made my chances much smaller today. Luckily, I feel good, and the goal remains to win a stage in the coming days. Tomorrow we will give it our all again to go for the victory.”

Sports director Marc Reef also saw positives despite the crash. “The team rode well together today. It’s a pity that Olav couldn’t do his best sprint because of the crash, but otherwise it looked excellent. Unfortunately, Dan came off worse in the crash and did not make it to the finish.”