Kooij

Dutch rider Olav Kooij won the opening stage of the Tour of Britain after fending off a strong challenge from Tord Gudmestad.

The pair went toe-to-toe in the closing stage of the 167.6km route between Woodbridge and Southwold.

But the 23-year-old Team Visma-Lease a Bike rider crossed the finish line ahead of Norway’s Gudmestad, of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, to claim a fifth stage win at the Tour of Britain since his debut in 2023.

“It’s a really good feeling, of course. It’s always nice to win a race, and I have good memories from here two years ago,” Kooij said.

“I was happy to come back to this race, and I’m really happy to continue the success of two years ago.”

France’s Hugo Hofstetter of Israel-Premier Tech finished third, while Ineos Grenadiers’ Samuel Watson was the first British rider to cross the line in sixth place.

Kooij leads the general classification with Gudmestad in second and Hofstetter third after stage one, which needed an early diversion because of a burst water main.

Great Britain’s Joshua Golliker, meanwhile, is fifth in the overall standings.

The 2025 Tour of Britain will also be the final professional race of Geraint Thomas’ illustrious 19-year career.

The 39-year-old Welshman, who won the Tour de France in 2018, sustained a puncture on the opening stage but recovered to finish with the main field.

The second stage on Wednesday will start and finish in Stowmarket, with the sixth and final stage finishing in Thomas’ home city of Cardiff on Sunday.

Olav Kooij won a close-fought sprint on stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia as Isaac del Toro retained the pink jersey in Viadana.

Dutchman Kooij benefited from Visma-Lease A Bike team-mate Wout van Aert’s superb lead-out in the final kilometre.

Casper van Uden finished second with Britain’s Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers third.

“Only he [Wout] can do it, so to have him as support here is extraordinary,” said Kooij.

“I really need to thank him and also the rest of the team, they did a fantastic job.

“You don’t want to be too far [back] in that last corner, that’s maybe why we had to go a bit earlier than we wanted but I could jump on the wheel of Casper and pass him.”

Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG stayed out of the hectic fight for position in the closing stages to finish safely in the bunch and maintain his hold on the pink jersey.

A sprint for two bonus seconds at the Red Bull kilometre in Brescello means the 21-year-old heads into stage 13 with a 33-second lead over team-mate Juan Ayuso in the race overall.

Kooij’s British team-mate Simon Yates is in fourth, one minute and 11 seconds off the overall lead.