Without Laporte, Kooij's winning train had to improvise: "Today we really had to fight for victory"

Olav Kooij has secured his first victory in a Grand Tour. The 22-year-old Dutchman was the fastest sprinter in the mass sprint of the ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia. A victory the young talent had dreamed of.

This was Kooij's initial reaction after his victorious ride: "We really wanted to win a stage, and we came close before. But today, we had to fight for it because the finale was very tough." Up until this stage, the best result for the sprinter was a fourth place in the fourth stage.

Without lead-out Laporte, Kooij still found himself in the perfect position

However, the rider from Visma | Lease a Bike was in an excellent position during the challenging finale of the ninth stage when he launched his sprint. In the flash interview, he explained how the victory came about. "We had to improvise a bit, especially in the last kilometers. Normally with Christophe (Laporte), it was pretty certain that I'd be in a good position, as he would typically set me up. Now, we didn't really have a set plan. We had to see what would happen and then do what was necessary to get me into position."

With Laporte already out of the race, Kooij has clinched his first victory in his first Grand Tour. "Riding here is the step I was looking forward to, ideally with a win. Even with many victories already under my belt, this is truly a dream come true."

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