UAE win Boucle de la Mayenne prologue as Visma struggle to get a result: 'Full focus on stages'

Julius Johansen won the prologue in the Boucles de la Mayenne on Thursday evening. The 26-year-old Dane of UAE Emirates was one second faster than Lidl-Trek's Jakob Söderqvist, while Oscar Chamberlain finished third on behalf of Decathlon CMA CGM. The short 5,4km time trial proceeds 2 road stages over this weekend, and sees sprinter Olav Kooij make his long-awaited return to racing.

Thursday’s prologue was separated by seconds. Danish rouleur Johansen came out on top, but only by 1 second ahead of Söderqvist. Decathlon CMA CGM will be pleased with 3rd place, but more pleased that Olav Kooij survived the 5.4 KM time trial without issue.

The Dutchman returned to racing in France, recovered from a virus he picked up shortly after signing for his new team. Decathlon CMA CGM were full of confidence around Kooij and hope he can be in the mix for stage wins straight away, according to sports director Mark Renshaw.

“He is in good shape and has recovered very well, we are here at the start to win,” he said hopefully. The prologue was not a target for the Dutchman, but he got through it without any problems. The sprinter also finished in a respectable 54th place.

While Visma | Lease a Bike are winning the Giro in Italy, the Dutch team are also racing in France. And not with minor names either. Top talent Matthew Brennan leads the squad, with Pietro Mattio, Owain Doull, Ashlin Barry, Loe van Belle and Louis Barré alongside him. The Brit is hoping to fight for stage wins in the sprint stages.

On the team’s website, sports director Robert Wagner also stressed that they had not expected much from the prologue. “No top result today (27th with Brennan, ed.), but that was as expected. The focus is fully on the three stages.” The goals begin on Friday with a 172-kilometre stage that should normally end in a bunch sprint.

Brennan and Visma | Lease a Bike can expect competition from, among others, Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij, Juan Sebastián Molano and Alberto Dainese. Maybe Fabio Jakobsen can also finally show his sprint legs again.