Olav Kooij closes Visma | Lease a Bike chapter: here’s what the Dutchman said after his final race in yellow and black

Visma | Lease a Bike had everything to lose in the final stage of the NIBC Tour of Holland. Christophe Laporte started in the orange leader's jersey and that had to be defended, of course, which the team had to do with two Devo riders and Julien Vermote after Bart Lemmen dropped out (bruised wrist).

“So I already knew that there would probably be less control: fewer WorldTeams, smaller teams, and not too many good sprinters,” Kooij began his story. “We also started with only five riders, two of whom were promising U23 talents. That made it less likely that it would come down to a sprint, and even Christophe's efforts to keep up were to no avail.”

“The general classification was of course a priority, so it was difficult for us. That took a lot of energy and ultimately came at the expense of the mass sprint,” he said after the final stage of the Tour of Holland, which he finished without a victory. “But I'm really happy that it's back on the calendar at all. It's impressive what they've managed to pull off, although there are still things that could be improved.”

“Take that gravel section, for example, which in my opinion was simply unnecessary. You shouldn't seek out that kind of danger,” says Kooij about the gravel path that was originally planned for the final stage. "And for next year, it would be nice if we could just race with a police escort. On Friday in Limburg, we were more focused on safety than on the race itself. The last two days were good, so it's definitely possible."

For Kooij, his six-season employment with Visma | Lease a Bike has come to an end. “You know it's coming, but it is the end of a chapter. We haven't planned a farewell party, because we're all happy to be going home and looking forward to a period of rest.”

“I've made a lot of great memories over the years and you also make friends, which is nice,” he explains. "I started as a young boy in the training team and that went from my first victory to the U23s to my first professional victory to my first WorldTour victory to winning in a Grand Tour. That's what makes it so great. If I had to choose, that first victory in the Giro stands out."

On January 1, he will start a new chapter with the French team Decathlon CMA CGM. "You know your contract is ending, and then the talks start. The program was important to me, with sprinting as a priority. The support and the equipment were also important to me," says the Dutchman.