Kooij seals back-to-back Tour of Britain stage wins

Dutch rider Olav Kooij sealed back-to-back victories at the Tour of Britain by winning a sprint finish on stage two.

The Team Visma-Lease a Bike rider went round the outside of Great Britain’s Sam Watson on the final corner on the way to winning the 174.06km stage in wet weather around Stowmarket.

Watson finished third as Tom Crabbe, of Belgium, beat him to second spot.

Kooij retained the leader’s green jersey and extended his general classification lead to 14 seconds.

Crabbe, of Team Flanders-Baloise, moved into second place, while Ineos Grenadiers’ Watson is 16 seconds behind the leader in third.

“It was a bit harder than yesterday – we had to use a lot of power to make the sprint in the first place,” said Kooij.

“I didn’t look back but it felt like it wasn’t as close as yesterday so I’m happy with that.

“The race suits me quite well. Another stage win after some hard work from the team so I’m really happy with that.”

1. Olav Kooij (Ned/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) 3hrs 44mins 14sec

2. Tom Crabbe (Bel/Team Flanders-Baloise) same time

3. Samuel Watson (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)

4. Matevz Govekar (Slo/Bahrain Victorious)

5. Rory Townsend (Irl/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)

6. Marc Brustenga (Spa/Equipo Kern Pharma)

7. Luke Lamperti (US/Soudal Quick-Step)

8. Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro Cycling)

9. Noa Isidore (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale

1. Olav Kooij (Ned/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) 7hrs 12mins 55secs

2. Tom Crabbe (Bel/Team Flanders-Baloise) +14secs

3. Samuel Watson (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +16 secs

4. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra/Israel-Premier Tech) +16secs

5. Andreas Nielsen (Den/Unibet Tietema Rockets) +17secs

6. Milan Lanhove (Bel/Team Flanders-Baloise) +17secs

7. Joshua Golliker (Gb/Great Britain) +18secs

8. Baptiste Veistroffer (Fra/Lotto) +18secs

9. Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro Cycling) +20secs