It's not a particularly happy start to 2026 for sprinters. After knee problems forced Tim Merlier to withdraw from the AlUla Tour in January and reschedule his seasonal debut, another prominent sprinter has been forced to stop even before his season could begin.

Specifically, we're talking about Olav Kooij who, as the Decathlon CMA CGM (his new team after the last five seasons with Team Visma Lease a Bike) announced just hours before their media day, due to a recently contracted virus, will need to observe absolute rest in the coming weeks and, consequently, "postpone his debut in the new colors".

"Olav, his trainer, and the medical staff have developed a protocol to allow him to fully recover and regain his physical capabilities as quickly as possible" they said from the transalpine formation, which, according to the original plans, would have lined up Kooij for the first time at the UAE Tour scheduled from February 16th to 22nd.

Unfortunately, due to this illness (whose type remains unknown), the twenty-four-year-old Dutchman will have to miss the appointment in the United Arab Emirates, after which, based on his feelings, it will be up to him to evaluate whether to take part in other events initially scheduled for February and March, namely Omloop Nieuwsblad (February 28th), Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (March 1st), and Paris-Nice (March 8th-15th).