Teams & Riders The Cheetah of Numansdorp - Olav Kooij thread

[Dekker_Tifosi]

never heard of a cyclist not hating some invented nickname though.
Most of them suck anyway

 

[tobydawq]

never heard of a cyclist not hating some invented nickname though.
Most of them suck anyway

How would a nickname be anything other than invented?

 

[Red Rick]

never heard of a cyclist not hating some invented nickname though.
Most of them suck anyway

Nibali loves being Lo Squalo though

 

[jmdirt]

Nice stage win OK!

 

[Netserk]

In hospital, possible collarbone fracture.

Visma-ploegleider Van Dongen: 'Kooij in ziekenhuis, mogelijk sleutelbeenbreuk'

Reactie van Visma-Lease a Bike-ploegleider Arthur van Dongen na Gent-Wevelgem, die sprinter Olav Kooij door een val niet kon uitrijden.

nos.nl

Also:

Team Visma | Lease a Bike puts up a fight but sees Kooij crash out in…

Despite a strong team performance, Team Visma | Lease a Bike was unable to compete for victory in Gent-Wevelgem. The yellow-black formation rode…

www.teamvismaleaseabike.com

Sports director Arthur van Dongen also looked back: “We had several riders in the front echelons, and Victor was well positioned in the race, so everything was going according to plan. On the plugstreet, Olav followed Pedersen’s attack, but shortly after, he misjudged a corner. The race could have played out differently - with Victor up front and Olav on Pedersen’s wheel, we would have had a perfect situation. But that’s cycling, unfortunately.”

EDIT: This is the corner/bend he misjudged:

 

[Netserk]

Confirmed:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906382398641545383

View: https://x.com/vismaleaseabike/status/1906382398641545383

Obviously no classics, but he can likely still get ready for the Giro.

 

[yaco]

He better hope its a simple collarbone fracture because if not there will ne no GT for him in 2025.

 

[Keldergoat]

Daniel Benson is reporting that Olav Kooij is on the brink of signing a contract with Decathlon - Ag2R. Interesting transfer.

🚨 Breaking news: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale on course to sign Olav Kooij

Potential moves to Red Bull, Ineos Grenadiers and Jayco look to be off ❌

dnlbenson.substack.com

 

[yaco]

Its a suitable team who will make him the undoubted leader and give him a place at the TDF. A sane Kooij would never consider Bora.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

This feels like he's going to get himself stuck with a bad train...

 

[Netserk]

Good wage
Good calendar
Good lead-out

Pick two.

 

[YavorD]

Good wage
Good calendar
Good lead-out

Pick two.

Well, in Ineos he would have all three.
However, the question is if Ineos are interested.

 

[AupaPyama]

This feels like he's going to get himself stuck with a bad train...

Gudmestad, Pedersen, De Bondt, Naesen can be a good but inexperienced train.

I still think he should go and ride for Vino.

 

[Samamba]

He was asking for Hoole and Bol when negotiating with teams so would not surprise me if they follow.

 

[AvA8]

Would've loved to see him at Bora with the van Dijkes + van Poppel as last leadout. Hopefully he lands somewhere where he has a leadout like the worlds best have. If its Decathlon, Gudmestad is a nice leadout and Hoole might have the experience from the Lidl leadouts but Bol? I mean he has the size and tempo but unsure if he is as good as a leadout as e.g. Danny van Poppel, Consonni, Teunissen...

 

[Berniece]

Daniel Benson is reporting that Olav Kooij is on the brink of signing a contract with Decathlon - Ag2R. Interesting transfer.

🚨 Breaking news: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale on course to sign Olav Kooij

Potential moves to Red Bull, Ineos Grenadiers and Jayco look to be off ❌

dnlbenson.substack.com

If you can go for Bora and Ineos but you chose Ag2R you are only doing it for the money. Which is a shame, you are earning more than enough for a couple of lifetimes throughout your career anyway.

Then again your career can be over quickly, better safe than sorry

 

[YavorD]

If you can go for Bora and Ineos but you chose Ag2R you are only doing it for the money. Which is a shame, you are earning more than enough for a couple of lifetimes throughout your career anyway.

Then again your career can be over quickly, better safe than sorry

Bora doesn't seem like a great choice to be honest.
They don't have a great track record with sprinters recently, they're way too GC oriented (though without top favourites) and their riders underperform at the moment.
I don't think they have many arguments over Ag2R.

Ineos on the other hand are a great choice IMHO.

 

[Keldergoat]

Bora not only doesn't have a great track record with sprinter, they don't have a great track record with any of their new signings.

With Ineos the issue could be that they still don't want him at the Tour. The NL is a very Tour minded cycling country, way more than Belgium for instance. As a young Dutch kid you want to excel in that race. I understand the cons of Ag2R, but don't see an awful lot of other options for Kooij either.

 

[yaco]

Bora not only doesn't have a great track record with sprinter, they don't have a great track record with any of their new signings.

With Ineos the issue could be that they still don't want him at the Tour. The NL is a very Tour minded cycling country, way more than Belgium for instance. As a young Dutch kid you want to excel in that race. I understand the cons of Ag2R, but don't see an awful lot of other options for Kooij either.

You realise that Ineos nearly got Groves in the last transfer period. Its obvious that if they can get a quality sprinter they will bring them to the TDF.

 

[theyoungest]

If you can go for Bora and Ineos but you chose Ag2R you are only doing it for the money. Which is a shame, you are earning more than enough for a couple of lifetimes throughout your career anyway.

Then again your career can be over quickly, better safe than sorry

He wants to go to the Tour. Where does he have the biggest chance of doing that? Probably at Decathlon. Doesn't hurt obviously that they also pay well, but I don't think that's the prime motivation.

 

[Berniece]

He wants to go to the Tour. Where does he have the biggest chance of doing that? Probably at Decathlon. Doesn't hurt obviously that they also pay well, but I don't think that's the prime motivation.

Ineos is still a high chance he could go to the tour