Pro cycling can be cruel. On Sunday, Olav Kooij claimed a big win in his sprinting career at the 107th Giro d’Italia, overtaking Stage 4 winner Jonathan Milan in the last 40 m to secure victory. This marked the Visma-Lease a Bike rider’s fifth win of the season.
Olav Kooij, who took the win in Naples, won’t be returning to the saddle for the 10th stage of the Giro. Unfortunately, the “cheetah of Numansdorph” fell ill with a fever during the rest day and was unable to continue. (Also how great is that for a nickname? Sure beats “LouLou”, or “Matt the Brat.”)
Just the day before the rest day, the 22-year-old sprinter celebrated his maiden stage victory in a Grand Tour during the challenging sprinters’ stage in Naples. Kooij’s triumph marked the first time a Dutch sprinter has claimed a stage win in the Giro since Jeroen Blijlevens way back in 1999.
His first week of the Giro had been strong. He took sixth, fourth and ninth place in the first Giro week, which put him in third place in the points classification which is led by Italian Jonathan Milan.
Tadej Pogačar on the rest of Giro: ‘My competitors will attack’
Kooij is the sixteenth rider to withdraw from the Giro d’Italia and already the third abandon from Visma | Lease a Bike, which has already seen Robert Gesink and Christophe Laporte leave the race.
Three other riders didn’t toe the line on Tuesday. Ethan Vernon from Israel-Premier Tech and Max Kanter from Astana Qazaqstan have joined the list of riders abandoning the Giro before stage 10. Alexander Krieger from Tudor Pro Cycling Team suffered a serious crash during stage 9, resulting in multiple rib fractures and a fractured pelvis.
After the first day off, Tuesday will be a doozy. The 142-km stage is in the mountains goes from Pompeii to Cusano Mutri. The riders will finish on an 18-km climb which should probably, just maybe, possibly suit maglia rosa Tadej Pogačar.
You can watch the Giro d’Italia on FloBikes.com
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