Olav Kooij won stage 2 of the Renewi Tour in Ardooie after a chaotic sprint and gained 10 bonus seconds to move into the overall lead. Visma-Lease a Bike controlled much of the final 5km but Kooij dropped back for the final 2km before launching a late sprint. Pavel Bittner finished second and Milan Fretin third, with Tim Merlier fading to seventh after a shoulder-to-shoulder effort. Jayco AlUla and Alpecin-Deceuninck pushed forward under the flamme rouge as solo attacks were closed down. The stage featured fast tailwind conditions and a headwind sprint finish that complicated positioning.
Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) came from nowhere to win a messy sprint on stage 2 of the Renewi Tour, beating Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL) to the line in Ardooie after a breathless day of echelon racing. Visma-Lease a Bike led for much of the final 5km and looked to have the perfect lead-out set up, but Kooij dropped back for the final 2km, perhaps knowing it was too early with only Christophe Laporte left to guide him.
Kooij was waiting patiently in the bunch on the wheel of stage 1 winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), but was forced to find a new lane when he was squeezed off of it. Still, he had enough to sprint from around 10th position in the bunch, slingshotting with great speed to come around the likes of Bittner and Merlier, who were already going all-out, to take a decisive victory.
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