Olav Kooij propelled himself to a second stage victory in a row on stage two of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men in Stowmarket.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider launched off the wheel of Sam Watson (Ineos Grenandiers) on the outside of the final corner and across the finish line, the British champion pushing hard behind him in a bunch sprint finish, although he was pipped at the line by Tom Crabbe (Flanders-Baloise).
How it happened
The second stage of the Tour of Britain Men’s race took a looping route from Stowmarket town centre and through the Dedham Vale National Landscape nature reserve on its first visit to the Mid-Suffolk area. A flat route, involving only 1,075m of ascent, the race was set to explode in a bunch sprint in the final meters of the course.
A breakaway group of six riders was first established at 160 kilometres to go, Frenchman Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto) leading the pack with Andreas Stokbro (Unibet Tietema Rockets), though the group quickly fractured as Brits Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco) and Josh Charlton (Great Britain) crashed after three kilometres, Charlton seeking medical help after rejoining the back of the peloton.
Come the first sprint, the break group was firmly established, with the two previous leaders flanked by Rafael Reis (Anicolor-Tien 21) and Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets)
The leading group pushed into a headwind, allowing the peloton to maintain a steady minute gap from the lead, but as the rain began to set in with 100 kilometres to go, the distance between the peloton and the break began to fall, too.
The peloton began to readjust, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in his gold helmet moved to the front of the peloton as the front of the race was disrupted by a flat tyre for Stokbro.
Just outside 50 kilometres to go, Picnic PostNL pushed to the front of the peloton in protection of their rider, Oscar Onley, fighting for the front position.
The heavy rain kicked up on the rear wheels of the peloton, disc brakes squealing round bends.
At 20km to go, Semer Hill rose out of the Suffolk countryside, at a gradient of 7-8% over half a mile. The breakaway group crested the hill before the pursuing peloton, with Stokbro taking the maximum four points, followed by de Vries, Veistroffer and Reis.
The messy peloton here began to reassemble once more, with Visma-Lease a Bike pulling the group into an arrow, and catching Reis, the break beginning to fracture ahead.
A second successive hill came 10 kilometres later, halfway back to Stowmarket. Here, Tord Gudmestad’s (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) hopes for a sprint finish were dashed as he dropped to the back of the race with a mechanical issue. Another last minute crash further distrupted the race favourites, with Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) caught in a tumble inside 3 kilometres to the finish.
The peloton rearranged in preparation for the bunch sprint, Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), then Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Bahrain-Victorious vying for the front of the race. The group strung out, and Kooij pushed ahead of his competitors, crossing the line on his second successive win of the Tour so far.
Results
Tour of Britain 2025 stage one: Stowmarket > Stowmarket (169.3km)
1. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 3:44:14
2. Tom Crabbe (Bel) Flanders-Baloise
3. Sam Watson (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Matevž Govekar (Slo) Bahrain-Victorious
5. Rory Townsend (Ire) Q36.5 Pro Cycling
6. Marc Brustenga (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma
7. Luke Lamperti (USA) Soudal Quick-Step
8. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling
9. Noa Isidore (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
10. Davide Bombi (Bel) Unibet Tietema Rockets, all at same time
General Classification after stage two
1. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 7:12:55
2. Tom Crabbe (Bel) Flanders-Baloise, +14s
3. Sam Watson (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +16
4. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) IPT, +16s
5. Andreas Stokbro (Den) Unibet Tietema Rockets, +17s
6. Milan Lanhove (Bel) Flanders-Baloise, +17s
7. Josh Golliker (GBr) Great Britain, +18s
8. Baptiste Veistroffer (Fra) Lotto, +18s
9. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling, +20s
10. Rory Townsend (Ire) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +20s
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