Dream debut for Kooij: Dutchman wins his first sprint for Decathlon CMA CGM

The opening stage of Boucles de la Mayenne was won by Olav Kooij. The Dutchman sprinted straight to victory in his first road stage for Decathlon CMA CGM, after being troubled by a virus during the spring.

The 51st edition of Boucles de la Mayenne began on Thursday with a prologue. After a nerve-wracking battle against the clock, Julius Johansen eventually came out on top. The UAE rider won the prologue by 1 second from Jakob Söderqvist and started Friday’s first stage in the leader’s jersey.

That first stage was normally one for the sprinters. With Matthew Brennan, Mads Pedersen, Juan Sebastián Molano and the returning Olav Kooij, it promised to be a very exciting sprint duel.

From the start, punchy attacker Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) attacked. He was immediately joined by three fellow Frenchmen and Caja Rural rider Javier Ibáñez. The five-man lead grew to around 2 minutes.

In the peloton, UAE took control for overall leader Johansen and sprinter Molano. With 70 kilometres to go, there were suddenly attacks in the bunch, almost bringing back the breakaway, but calm returned just in time.

With 30 kilometres to go, the Frenchman from Lotto-Intermarché decided to accelerate. His fellow escapees could not follow, so a solo move followed. The Frenchman stayed clear for a long time and still had a 30-second lead with 15 kilometres to go.

From that point on, Visma | Lease a Bike took over at the front of the peloton. The Frenchman was quickly caught. In the sprint preparation, Kooij was superbly positioned by Cees Bol, after which he could take the win straight away on his return. Young Alessio Magagnotti finished a fine second.