Is anyone still wondering why Jumbo-Visma moved Dylan Groenewegen to Team Bike Exchange-Jayco last year?

20-year-old Olaf Kooij took his first win of the 2022 season on the second stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in Lelude, winning the Settimana Coppi & Bartali 1a stage in September 2020 and two UCI 2.1-level stages in the 2021 Clos Race

Last season.

Last season, he finished third in Gran Piemonte, Italy. This year, he finished second behind Jasper Philipsen on stage 5 of the UAE Tour and behind Tim Mellier on stage 2 of the Tirreno-Adriatico. Cooey told Cycling News in Le Rude, "I've had some close calls with second and third places this year, but I wanted to win and I'm very happy to win today." "I'm kind of relieved. It's always nice to win against really good riders. There are a lot of guys with strong starts this week, so it feels really good to win against them."

"I managed to stay in front until the last 2km. 'From there it was narrow and I was able to stay in front. I have to thank everyone. They were very calm and helped me get to the front. I was in a good position at the last corner, so I knew I could sprint. We are a very young team here, including some from the development team. It is difficult to fight with a strong team. They do everything and I try to find my way with them. Sometimes I have to do something extra myself, but they are very motivated young riders. I'm happy to be fighting alongside these enthusiastic young riders."

Kooi showed off his top-end speed and overhauled race leader Pedersen. Quick Step Alfa Vinyl's Elia Viviani and Mark Cavendish rounded out the top 10, but were unable to match the young Dutch rider.

"It's my ambition to be at the top of the sprint, but I don't know if I'm one of the best sprinters yet," Kooij said. "To do that, I need to win a lot. This is a good start. Sprinting is the way to win races, so that's what I'm focusing on right now. We'll see how I develop and how I can race harder in the future."

The Grand Tour is not on his agenda yet, but he will get there eventually.

"After the Circuit de la Sarthe, I'll take it easy for a few weeks and then resume racing at the Tour of Hungary. The Tour de Suisse is my biggest stage race of the year and also my hardest."