Olav Kooij Takes First Leader's Jersey in Tour of Poland After Strong Sprint

Olav Kooij has won the first stage of the Tour of Poland. The rider from Visma Lease a Bike beat the up-and-coming Paul Magnier and Jensen Plowright in a bunch sprint. Kooij, who had to come from far back in the sprint, is naturally the first leader of the Tour of Poland.

The Tour of Poland started on Monday with a flat stage from Wroclaw to Legnica. With Olav Kooij, Arvid de Kleijn, Casper van Uden, and Marijn van den Berg, there were many Dutch riders with a chance at the first leader’s jersey. There was also strong competition, including Paul Magnier, Gerben Thijssen, Sam Bennett, and Elia Viviani, who all started in Poland.

INEOS Grenadiers take the initiative
The GC contenders, guys like Jan Christen, Brandon McNulty, and Magnus Sheffield, didn’t have to work much on the first day. Sheffield saw his team INEOS Grenadiers take the initiative in the peloton, together with Soudal Quick-Step and Visma Lease a Bike. They launched the chase after Dutch riders Lars Boven, Donovan Grondin, and Patryk Stosz, the three early escapees in the first stage. Due to the organized pursuit, they never got far; with 100 kilometers to go, their lead was less than two minutes.

Kruijswijk (right) and Bastiaens (centre) at the front of the peloton - photo: Cor Vos

Boven and Grondin dropped home rider Stosz at around sixty kilometers from the finish, but they didn’t last much longer themselves. The two were eventually caught with 40 kilometers remaining. The peloton then rode together towards the finish in Legnica, passing the only ‘climb’ of the day (the Prochowice, 1.3 kilometers at 1.6%). Bauke Mollema took the mountain points at the top of the Prochowice and became the first leader of the mountains classification.

Kooij has to come from far back
It was the sprinters’ teams who controlled the peloton. The last kilometers were fairly chaotic, which also led to a big crash. Several riders, including two guys from Lotto, went down hard. Kooij was positioned quite far back in the final kilometer but, thanks to a lead-out from Matthew Brennan – who briefly blocked Fernando Gaviria – he was still able to start the sprint in a reachable position.

Kooij still had to come from far back. However, the Dutchman sprinted past everyone and managed to hold off the charging Magnier in the final meters. Kooij took his sixteenth win at the WorldTour level. Jensen Plowright finished third, ahead of Maikel Zijlaard. In addition, Florian Vermeersch sprinted to a notable eighth place.