Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease A Bike) took advantage of a lead-out from superstar teammate Wout van Aert to take his and his team's first win of the 2024 season at the Clásica de Almería.
The Dutchman pipped Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5) to the line, celebrating a touch early in the process and putting his hand on his head as he looked over to the fast-finishing Italian, who threw his bike but came just short of nipping through to win.
Behind the duo, Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling) came through to take third place ahead of Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny), while a little further back three riders came down in a nasty crash in the final metres of the race with the incident lucky not to take more men down.
"I thought so but then on the line I looked to my left and maybe I should've looked a bit earlier. Those are maybe mistakes you make in the first race. You know for the next races that you need to go all-out for the line," Kooij said after his win.
"The team was really strong but with all the roundabouts sometimes you lose each other. Also in the last kilometre, we had some trouble getting out and I decided to do my move on the left just before the corner, which brought me in a good position.
"It was already quite an effort and then luckily Wout came by on the right and we just said 'Go' and I did my sprint. I felt the effort from before and luckily it was just enough."
How it unfolded
Earlier in the day on the hilly opening section of the 192.3km race, a group of six men ventured out front into the breakaway. Will Barta (Movistar) made the move and was joined by Baptiste Vadic (TotalEnergies), Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), and Illes Balears Arabay pairing José María García, Alex Molenaar.
The group managed to race away to an advantage of five minutes as the riders tackled several hills filling the first half of the race, including the Alto del Celin (7km at 4.6%), Alto de La Alqueria (1.5km at 6.7%), and Alto de Fuente Marbella (1.5km at 7.1%).
Back in the peloton, there was little rush of appetite to make moves so far from the finish, especially with a largely flat final 80km and the race destined to end with a bunch sprint.
In the end, the breakaway men managed to last long enough to snatch all the climbs and intermediate sprints on the day, staying out until the 15km to go mark, at which time the sprint squads took control on the run to the line.
Teams including Visma-Lease A Bike and Lotto-Dstny were lined up at the front, though Visma faded away before the finish as several trains fought to remain in control of the peloton.
intermarché-Wanty and Arkéa-B&B Hotels had led out the peloton for the final sprint inside the final kilometre, though it was Wout van Aert who shot to the front and wrested control at the right time with Kooij on his wheel.
The Belgian put in a perfect final lead-out for his 22-year-old teammate, reliving the successful partnership they enjoyed at last year's Tour of Britain. Kooij came out of the wheel to launch the final sprint and was almost unmatched in the dash for the line – at least until Moschetti came in with a fast finish.
The Italian, who won last year's race, came off the wheel and looked as though he might have just nipped it at the death, but would have to settle for a second place by the slimmest of margins this season.
Results
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