Kooij misses new sprint opportunity after crash in final stage Baloise Belgium Tour
Capital city Brussels was the setting for the final stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour. The riders covered a total of around 186 kilometres on a relatively flat course. The peloton, which had clearly set its sights on another bunch sprint, caught up with the leading group well short of the finish line. Team Visma | Lease a Bike sprinter Kooij was well led to the front by his teammates, but things went wrong about two kilometres from the line. Kooij crashed and took teammate Van Dijke with him in his fall. Tim Merlier sprinted to the stage win.
“It’s unfortunate. We were very well placed, but it is what it is”, sports director Maarten Wynants said afterwards. “It was hard racing, so a crash can happen easily. That’s part of cycling unfortunately, but it’s extra sour that we caused it ourselves.”
“We were hoping for a win, but unfortunately it was not to be”
Maarten Wynants
“With sprinters like Merlier and Jasper Philipsen at the start, stage wins were anything but up for grabs this week. We were already second and third with Olav, so today we were hoping for a win. Unfortunately it was not to be, but next week there are races again. New opportunities await. That too is the beauty of the sport.”
In the overall classification, Team Visma | Lease a Bike finished ninth with Per Strand Hagenes. “Per had a good week,” Wynants said. “In the queen stage on Saturday, he had to let the strongest riders go. He kept going for it and he kept fighting. Against this field of competitors, the podium was a difficult goal. He can look back on a fine performance in this stage race.”
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Baloise Belgium Tour
Stage 5
Result
Rankings
Result
1
Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
03:51:51
2
Jasper Philipsen
Alpecin – Deceuninck
+00:00:00
3
Tom Van Asbroeck
Israel – Premier Tech
+00:00:00
42
Colby Simmons
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:00
46
Per Strand Hagenes
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:00
98
Edoardo Affini
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:37
114
Tosh Van der Sande
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:01:30
134
Mick van Dijke
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:00
135
Olav Kooij
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:00
Rankings
1
Søren Wærenskjold
Uno-X Mobility
16:25:20
2
Mathias Vacek
Lidl – Trek
+00:00:04
3
Alex Aranburu
Movistar Team
+00:00:07
9
Per Strand Hagenes
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:28
29
Mick van Dijke
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:01:29
77
Colby Simmons
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:13:09
84
Olav Kooij
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:13:31
94
Tosh Van der Sande
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:14:38
97
Edoardo Affini
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:15:34
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Subjects
Cycling – World Tour men
Maarten Wynants
1
Baloise Belgium Tour
