Olav Kooij finally set to make his 2026 debut after months-long absence

Good news from Decathlon CMA CGM: Olav Kooij can finally begin his season. The Dutch sprinter will kick off his year on 28 May at the French stage race Boucles de la Mayenne, team director Sebastian Joly confirmed on the Bistrot Velo podcast.

Kooij moved from Visma | Lease a Bike to Decathlon CMA CGM last winter, but a virus threw his initial plans for the year into disarray. The team decided to keep Kooij out of the UAE Tour and the spring Classics.

Word finally came from the team in mid-May, by which point it had already been clear for a while that Kooij was back in training. He will make his racing debut on 28 May at Boucles de la Mayenne, with a stage race and the Baloise Belgium Tour to follow.

Under normal circumstances Kooij will also line up at the Tour de France, though it naturally remains to be seen how he responds to his first race efforts. Whatever the outcome, Decathlon CMA CGM's tour ambitions will focus on Paul Seixas.

Felix Gall, currently third in the Giro d'Italia, will not ride the Tour. He confirmed on Monday at a press conference that he will stick to his original plan, with the Vuelta a España as his second major goal of the season.