In the 109th edition of the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen, Team Visma | Lease a Bike showed itself at the front throughout the day. In the final local lap, Kooij was brought into position well by his teammates. However, in the closing kilometer the Dutchman was unable to open his sprint and therefore played no role in the fight for victory.

Afterwards, sports director Marc Reef reflected on the race with mixed feelings. “Today we rode a good race as a team. Together with the other teams we controlled the pace. Unfortunately, in the final lap things got very hectic, which left Olav too far back in the closing kilometer. As a team we were no longer able to bring him back to the front, as we had already done a lot of work earlier in the race.”