When it comes to sprinters, there are a few men who dominate the current conversation. Jasper Philipsen, of course, winner of nine Tour de France stages since 2022; Biniam Girmay, the Tour’s last green jersey winner after stealing the show with three victories; and both Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier, winners of three stages each at the 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Muscling his way into the conversation, with the air of a man quietly sitting at an invitation-only table but with his elbows out to subtly announce his presence, is Olav Kooij. Just turned 23, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider has won 33 professional races in his three full seasons as a WorldTour pro, and nine of his past 10 victories have been in the highest-tier of races, including a win at May’s Giro d’Italia. He’s not winning Tour stages yet – and may have to wait a long time given the Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert combination at Visma – but he’s there, emerging from the background into the foreground, ready to take the title as the sport’s fastest man.
“I think I can be, yeah,” the Dutchman says confidently when asked by Rouleur if he’s on the cusp of being the sport’s best current sprinter. “I think I can win and I’ve won a few times at WorldTour level this year. On a good day, I can beat maybe everyone. If you look at the wins, Philipsen, Merlier and Milan were on the top step more this year, but I was close behind them. We go into every race trying to win, we believe we can win, and I’ve beaten them. To make that next step, to maybe be the best one, is what we are aiming for.”
Kooij, tall, and with a slightly slender frame than some of his rivals, has taken most of his wins against mid-ranked sprinters, but has an admirable and promising record against the aforementioned four: in direct sprint duals against Merlier in 2024, Kooij came out on top eight times, with Merlier winning 10; against Milan, the Italian just edged the battle 5-3; Kooij bettered Girmay 2-1; and it was only Philipsen, with a margin of 7-3 in his favour, who consistently bettered Kooij.
Beating his main competition on a more regular basis is what is driving Kooij this winter, now fully recovered from minor knee surgery relating to a crash at August’s Renewi Tour. “Part of getting better is experience, doing those finals every year, making the right decisions in the sprint,” Kooij says. “Improving physically as well, getting a bit stronger and finding a bit more speed. I…