Tour of Britain Men: Back-to-back wins for Olav Kooij as he sears field on stage 2 and extends overall lead

Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) took a second successive victory at the Tour of Britain on stage 2 in Stowmarket, beating Tom Crabbé (Team Flanders–Baloise) into second and Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) into third, following a powerful long sprint.

After a crash within the final 2km took out several riders near the back of the peloton but left the major sprinters unaffected, Bahrain Victorious approached the final straight in the best position. Kooij was seemingly out of position in the final kilometre, and Watson seemed set for a clear sprint

However, the race leader and green jersey holder managed to swing into a solid position in the final corner, opening up a long sprint which led to a considerable sprint victory margin.

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Kooij's successive wins are reminiscent of the 2023 edition of the race, where Kooij took victory on the first four stages of the race.

"The rain suits me quite well," Kooij said following the stage finish. "Another stage win after the smart work of the team, I'm really happy with that.

"Compared to yesterday, we used a few more guys to catch the break, so I was a bit more on my own together with Matthew [Brennan].

"I found my own way around to the right wheel, and there was space enough for me to go. When I had the space to go at 200 metres I went and I felt that I was the fastest," he said.

The stage saw relentless rain under a grey British summer sky. Starting and ending in Stowmarket, it was tightly controlled from the flag.

An early attack was allowed to move clear – it contained Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto), Andreas Stokbro Nielsen and Hartthijs de Vries (both Unibet Tietema Rockets), Rafael Reis (Anicolor–Tien 21), and Great Britain duo Ben Wiggins and Josh Charlton.

An early crash between the two Great Britain team riders took out both Wiggins and Charlton, leaving a group of four to form the main breakaway more than 150km out.

Despite the torrential weather, the peloton maintained tight control and averted chaos and crashes, as well as keeping the breakaway strictly within two minutes.

Just within 20km, with less than one minute to the peloton, Stokbro attacked on the main climb of the day - the short Semer Hill. It was purely for the points, as he was reeled in before the squeeze for the sprint finish began in the peloton, and the break was slowly reeled in.

Visma–Lease a Bike controlled the chase, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) taking a conspicuous turn at the front of the peloton before the catch 3km from the line. Visma's efforts, though, proved the most effective in preparing Kooij's charge for a second successive win.

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