"I didn't really know how I would be today, I just had quite an easy week to recover from a crash so we didn't know. I also told the guys that I was not feeling too good... But they motivated me to fight and to do the sprint and in the end, it was a nice surprise," said Kooij in his winner's interview also describing the run for home.
"We turned in a good position in the corner with 2km to go and we knew that this was the moment to attack. I just went for it and the legs felt good, so I knew we were prepared for the sprint."
Milan was positioned well on the wheel of lead-out man Simone Conssoni, however, he got boxed in when Kooij and Girmay opened up past his right-hand shoulder and got the jump on him.
Kooij held on at the line for his seventh WorldTour win of the season. Milan ended the day second after pipping Girmay with a strong bike throw as the Eritrean rounded out the podium.
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