A sprint victory after a hard hilly stage at Tirreno-Adriatico is a clear sign of a Milan-San Remo contender and Olav Kooij added his name to the list of sprinters who could win La Primavera with his victory in Trasacco on Thursday.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider is riding Tirreno-Adriatico for the second time in his career hoping that it will give him the form for Milan-San Remo. With Wout van Aert opting to train at altitude for the cobbled Classics instead of racing Tirreno-Adriatico, Kooij will have leadership status in the team for Milan-San Remo alongside Alex Zingle and possibly Christophe Laporte who may make his 2025 season debut after illness disrupted his winter.
With Tadej Pogačar expected to spark a hard and selective Milan-San Remo once again and with an attack on the Poggio, Kooij's chances may seem slim. But sprinters can never be written off at Milan-San Remo.
Kooij finished an impressive if little-noticed 14th in his debut in the race last March. He was in a chase group that finished behind Philipsen, Pogačar and the rest of the attackers but was only 35 seconds behind the sprint for victory.
"This year I think I'm feeling even better. Milan-San Remo is one of my dream races and so hopefully I can do a little bit better than last year," Kooij told Cyclingnews and La Gazzetta dello Sport after his victory in Trasacco.
The Dutch sprinter survived the attacks on the early climbs high in the central Italian Apennines and then fought to get back when echelons split the race. He was fortunate that Soudal-QuickStep rode hard for Paul Magnier but Kooij was far faster and tactically superior in the swerving sprint to the line.
"I just went for it," he said of the sprint. "Initially everything went well. Thanks to the pacing of the boys I managed to survive the climb, but then I was surprised on the plateau by the echelons and we were stuck behind. Sometimes I thought we would come back and sometimes I lost hope a little but when we caught the attacks I was more determined. The goal was to win a stage and after a huge battle like today, that's really nice."
Kooij won two sprints at the Tour of Oman but then fell ill early in the UAE Tour and was unable to challenge big-name sprint rivals Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan. He recovered to finish second behind Philispen at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and is now hoping to peak at Milan-San Remo, Classic Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem.
Kooij is also in a contract year, with several teams keen to sign him for 2026, including Visma-Lease a Bike, with whom he developed via their development team. A victory or even a podium at Milan-San Remo would change his career path, sprinting opportunities and earnings significantly.
Like many sprinters, Kooij is motivated by success and self-confidence.
That unpredictability and that possibility is what Milan-San Remo is all about. You always need to try and win because you never know how the final will go," he said of La Classicissima.
"I don't think I can stay with the best guys when they attack on the Poggio but if you're close to the top of the Poggio and in a chase group, anything can happen.
"Last year we saw everyone expected Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu an der Poel to go away but in the end, ten guys sprinted for victory and Jasper Philipsen, a sprinter, won it. That gives me hope and motivation."
