Tour of Britain gets underway as Olav Kooij claims victory in opening stage

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The 2023 Tour of Britain got underway in Manchester on Sunday September 3 – with less than a week to go before the race draws to a close in front of Caerphilly Castle.

Dutchman Olav Kooij claimed victory in the opening stage, which saw cyclists tackle the 163.6-kilometre route from Altrincham to Manchester.

Around half a million spectators lined the streets to see Kooij, riding for Dutch team Jumbo-Visma, get his tour underway with a win.

Kooij led home a one-two for Jumbo-Visma ahead of Belgium’s Wout van Aert, with Irishman Sam Bennett, of BORA-Hansgrohe, the best of the rest in third.

Stage two enters Wales today (Monday September 4), as the tour comes to Wrexham – with Kooij wearing the leader’s jersey for the day.

Kooij said: “It was actually quite a hard day, but really nice with all the fans out on the road. In the end, we managed to catch the break after the guys did a really good job pulling on the front.

“We got it right into the last kilometre, and then [we were] first and second into the last corner. After that we had to go full gas to the line.

“I’m really happy to start the race with a win. We made a lot of plans for the lead-out throughout the year but it doesn’t come together that many times.

“To get it right after such a good job from the whole team makes the victory even nicer.”

Visit the Tour of Britain’s website for full results and standings.