Olav Kooij

Olav Kooij (born 17 October 2001) is a Dutch professional racing cyclist,^[3] who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike.^[4]

Olav Kooij

Kooij at the 2023 Tour of Britain
Personal information
Full name	Olav Kooij
Born	(2001-10-17) 17 October 2001 (age 23) Numansdorp, Netherlands
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Team information
Current team	Visma–Lease a Bike
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Amateur teams
2018	Forte U19 Cycling Team
2019	Willebrord Wil Vooruit
Professional teams
2020–2021	Jumbo–Visma Development Team[1]
2020	Team Jumbo–Visma (development)[a]
2021–	Team Jumbo–Visma
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 3 individual stages (2024, 2025) Stage races ZLM Tour (2022, 2023) One-day races and Classics Hamburg Cyclassics (2024) Clásica de Almería (2024) Münsterland Giro (2022)
Medal record Men's road bicycle racing Representing the  Netherlands World Championships 2021 Flanders Under-23 road race European Championships 2024 Limburg Road race 2023 Drenthe Road race

Career

Kooij rode for the Forte U19 Cycling Team and Willebrord Wil Vooruit as a junior, before signing for the Jumbo–Visma Development Team for their inaugural season in 2020. He finished second to David Dekker,^[5] in his first UCI race with the team at the Ster van Zwolle, before he took three successive victories – either side of the enforced break from racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic – at the Trofej Umag, the Poreč Trophy and the GP Kranj.^[6][7][8] He competed at the Czech Cycling Tour for Team Jumbo–Visma, with Jumbo–Visma Development Team colleagues Lars Boven, Owen Geleijn and Michel Hessmann.^[9]

In August 2020, it was announced that Kooij was to join UCI WorldTeam Team Jumbo–Visma midway through the 2021 season, after spending the first part of the season with the Jumbo–Visma Development Team; he signed a contract until the end of the 2023 season.^[10] The following month, he won the opening stage of the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali in a sprint finish, ahead of Ethan Hayter and Phil Bauhaus.^[11]

In February 2021, Team Jumbo–Visma announced that Kooij would make an immediate move to the World Tour Team, thus becoming the first teenager cyclist to have a full season contract with the team since its creation.^[4]

Major results

2018

1st Overall La Coupe du Président de la Ville de Grudziądz

1st Points classification

1st Sprints classification

1st Young rider classification

1st Stages 1b & 4

2019

Tour de DMZ

1st Stages 1, 3 & 5

1st Stage 3 Driedaagse van Axel

4th Road race, National Junior Road Championships

4th Johan Museeuw Classic

5th La Route des Géants Saint-Omer–Ypres

6th Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten

7th Road race, UEC European Junior Road Championships

8th EPZ Omloop van Borsele

2020 (1 pro win)

1st Overall Orlen Nations Grand Prix

1st Stages 1 (TTT) & 2

1st Trofej Umag

1st Poreč Trophy

1st GP Kranj

1st Stage 1a Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali

2nd Ster van Zwolle

5th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships

2021 (2)

CRO Race

1st Points classification

1st Stages 2 & 4

3rd Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships

3rd Gran Piemonte

2022 (12)

1st Overall ZLM Tour

1st Points classification

1st Young rider classification

1st Stages 1, 2 & 5

1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe

1st Young rider classification

1st Stages 2 & 4

1st Münsterland Giro

Danmark Rundt

1st Stages 1 & 3

1st Stage 1 Tour de Pologne

1st Stage 1 Tour de Hongrie

5th Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships

5th Classic Brugge–De Panne

2023 (13)

1st Overall ZLM Tour

1st Points classification

1st Young rider classification

1st Stage 4

1st Heistse Pijl

Tour of Britain

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 4

Paris–Nice

1st Stages 3 (TTT) & 5

Tour of Guangxi

1st Stages 3 & 6

1st Stage 4 Tour de Pologne

2nd Road race, National Road Championships

2nd Classic Brugge–De Panne

2nd Gooikse Pijl

2nd Visit Friesland Elfsteden Race

3rd Road race, UEC European Road Championships

4th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1 & 4

8th Gent–Wevelgem

2024 (8)

1st Hamburg Cyclassics

1st Clásica de Almería

Paris–Nice

1st Stages 1 & 5

Tour de Pologne

1st Stages 4 & 7

1st Stage 9 Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 5 UAE Tour

2nd Road race, UEC European Road Championships

2nd Road race, National Road Championships

3rd Gooikse Pijl

6th Gent–Wevelgem

2025 (5)

Giro d'Italia

1st Stages 12 & 21

Tour of Oman

1st Stages 1 & 4

1st Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico

2nd Road race, National Road Championships

2nd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne

8th Milan–San Remo

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	DNF	149
Tour de France	Has not contested during career
Vuelta a España

Classics results timeline

Monument	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Milan–San Remo	—	—	—	14	8
Tour of Flanders	Has not contested during career
Paris–Roubaix
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Giro di Lombardia
Classic	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	89	—	—	—	—
Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne	—	—	—	—	2
Brugge–De Panne	74	5	2	—
Gent–Wevelgem	—	—	8	6
Hamburg Cyclassics	—	—	16	1
Gran Piemonte	3	84	—	—
Paris–Tours	—	12	—	—

Major championships results timeline

Event	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
World Championships	—	—	45	—
European Championships	—	—	3	2
National Championships	7	40	2	2	2

Legend

—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

Notes

1. Kooij competed at the 2020 Czech Cycling Tour with Team Jumbo–Visma, following the introduction of a UCI rule allowing riders registered with a development team to participate in UCI ProSeries or Class 1 events.^[2]