Olav Kooij with a debut triumph in the Tour de France!

Olav Kooij from the Decathlon CMA CGM Team claimed a spectacular victory on the 5th stage of the Tour de France, which ended with a sprint finish from the peloton. The Dutch rider is very well known to Polish fans – he has triumphed as many as 5 times on stages of the Tour de Pologne UCI WorldTour, and previously also won the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix.

The eyes of the entire cycling world are currently focused on France, where the Tour de France is taking place. Olav Kooij from the Decathlon CMA CGM Team stood at the start line of the event for the first time in his career. Even though this is his debut in the La Grande Boucle  he fearlessly presented himself on the first sprint stage finishing in Pau, where after an exciting finish he reached for victory, defeating Max Kanter from the XDS Astana Team and Tim Merlier from Soudal Quick-Step.

Kooij – just like Merlier – are riders perfectly known to the Polish audience. Both have won in Poland multiple times, and the Dutchman from the Decathlon CMA CGM Team has particularly grown fond of racing by the Vistula River. The 24-year-old has claimed stage victories in each of the last four editions of the race, gathering a total of 5!

What is more – a few years earlier, the Dutchman triumphed in the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix, where he first dominated the team time trial along with his national teammates, and was subsequently unrivaled in the sprint finish from the peloton.

Olav Kooij’s victory on the stage finishing in Pau was also special for his team – Decathlon CMA CGM Team – for which he has been racing since this season. On this occasion, it is worth mentioning that the French team will take part in the 83rd Tour de Pologne UCI WorldTour in August, and Decathlon will once again be the Official Sponsor of the Team Classification.

The race will take place from August 3rd to 9th on the route from Gdynia to the “Wieliczka” Salt Mine. The competition can be watched via live broadcast on Telewizja Polska, Eurosport, and the HBO Max streaming platform, thanks to which the signal from the rivalry will reach fans in 65 countries.