With Van Aert as lead-out, Visma | Lease a Bike is counting on Kooij Tuesday: "If that works, it makes a big difference"

“I think the past has already shown that the combination of Olav and Wout works well, just look at Great Britain or Almería last year,” Visma | Lease a Bike director Marc Reef told Cyclingnews before Stage 3, speaking about Van Aert as Kooij’s lead-out man. He was referring to the 2023 Tour of Britain, where Kooij racked up four stage wins thanks to help from his Belgian teammate. In last year’s Clásica de Almería, the Dutch sprinter also came out on top after a perfect lead-out from Van Aert.

For the upcoming Giro sprints, starting with the expected bunch sprint in stage 4, that’s exactly the plan for the Killer Bees. “The most important thing is getting Olav and Wout together in the sprint, and if that works, it makes a big difference,” said Reef. Kooij is also looking forward to it. “I think it’s a really great combination. Wout is one of the best riders in the world,” the 23-year-old praised his teammate.

Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t get off to a flying start at the Giro. Van Aert came up just short in stage 1, and didn’t feature in the results of stages 2 and 3. Still, the Dutch squad is far from discouraged. “You saw in the first stage that if it’s too tough for me, he (Van Aert, ed.) can still fight for the win,” said Kooij. “With all the goals we’ve set, it’s exciting to be able to race for the win every day and to come up with a good plan to make the most of it.”

For the 23-year-old, this is his second Giro, and also his second Grand Tour. Kooij already took a stage win in last year’s Giro, but things played out differently in terms of preparation this time around. After breaking his collarbone in Gent-Wevelgem, making it to the start in Albania became a race against the clock for the Dutchman. “I think you never really know how you’re doing. It wasn’t ideal, but in the end I think the recovery went as we hoped, and we’ve prepared as well as possible for the Giro. It wasn’t a perfect buildup, but I think it should work out,” Kooij said as he looked ahead to his second Giro d’Italia.

In Albania, the opening days were tough, Kooij admitted. “Still, I feel okay. These were days I personally didn’t enjoy all that much, but it was good to start here and get the racing feeling back after the injury.” Team director Marc Reef now sees things looking much more positive for his sprinter. “I think he’s done everything he needed to do to be ready for stage 4,” he said, referring to the expected bunch sprint on Tuesday in the streets of Lecce.