Info about Olav Kooij
- Date of birth: 17 October 2001
- Nationality: Dutch
- Height/weight: 1.84 m, 72 kg
Teams
- 2020 Jumbo-Visma Development Team
- 2021 (until 17 February) Jumbo-Visma Development Team
- 2021 (from 18 February) Team Jumbo-Visma
- 2022 Jumbo-Visma
- 2023 Jumbo-Visma
Olav Kooij, 21 years old, Jumbo-Visma
Probably the next top sprinter in the peloton: the fastest men usually only really step onto the big stage with successes in the big bunch sprints in the three-week tours. Dutchman Olav Kooij has already celebrated his first stage win at World Tour level at the age of 21: at the Tour of Poland.
He could soon break into the top class around his compatriots Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen. His disadvantage: He rides for the currently strongest team, Jumbo-Visma, which has so many strong classification riders in its squad that the chances of a Grand Tour start in the near future are not ideal. His advantage: His slim body for a sprinter allows him to win even on difficult routes.
The 2023 season will show whether he can assert himself as team leader alongside Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert and extend his contract or whether he will seek his future in a more sprinter-friendly racing team. "He comes from speed skating. He beat Dylan Groenewegen (then team-mate; editor's note) in training. The team knew then that we had a new diamond," said Paul Martens, ex-professional from Jumbo-Visma, about Kooij on ARD.
Cycling talents: TOUR shows 10 promotion candidates for 2023
TOUR editor Andreas Kublik takes a look at ten young riders who will be worth watching in 2023. We present the individual candidates in our series. Almost all of the selected riders are already under contract with a World Tour team. Signing cyclists at a very young age is a trend that has recently caught on with the top teams.
Numerous youngsters skip the U23 class and go straight into the professional ranks. The most prominent example of this development is Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian was under contract with Deceuninck - Quick Step in 2019 at the age of just 18. Since then, he has worked his way up to the top of the world rankings, including becoming road world champion in 2022.
Many top teams also have their own junior racing team, where they train their talents and later bring them into the professional squad. A prime example of this is the Groupama-FDJ team in 2023, which has recruited all seven new riders for this year from the Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
