Fabio Jakobsen has won the second stage of the Tour de France. The Dutch cyclist of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl was the fastest in the bunch sprint in the Danish city of Nyborg. For Jakobsen, who was seriously injured two years ago in a serious crash in the Tour of Poland, it is his first stage win in the Tour.
At the sprint in Nyborg, where the peloton arrived from Roskilde after a stage of more than 202 kilometers, the battle for victory actually seemed to be between the Belgian Wout van Aert and the Dane Mads Pedersen. However, Jakobsen sprinted past the two at the last minute. Van Aert can take comfort in the yellow jersey, which he takes over from his Jumbo-Visma teammate Yves Lampaert thanks to the bonus seconds he earned at the finish. Van Aert also has the green jersey, with one point more than Jakobsen.
Sprint specialist Jakobsen will make his debut in the Tour de France this year. A year after he broke through with the national title and stage victories in the Vuelta in 2019, the serious crash in Poland seemed to put an end to his career. Jakobsen was driven into the fences by Dylan Groenewegen during the sprint and suffered serious injuries to his face. After months of rehabilitation, he returned to the peloton in early 2021. In the autumn he won three stages and the points jersey in the Vuelta.
Also read this interview with Fabio Jakobsen: ‘I hope to be an inspiration to others’
Bridge
The most striking part of Saturday’s stage was the eighteen kilometer long bridge over the Great Belt strait, which the riders crossed in the final phase of the stage. Experts took into account fan formation on the bridge in advance, but that did not happen. The peloton was torn apart when, shortly after crossing the bridge, a crash blocked the whole way. The crash did not appear to have serious consequences, both in terms of injuries and loss of time for classification riders – the crash occurred within the last three kilometers, which have been neutralized in terms of the general classification.
The Tour will continue into Denmark on Sunday. Then there is a 182 kilometer long stage from Vejle to Sønderborg on the program. Just like Saturday’s stage, it is flat, so it is probably again a prey for the sprinters. On Monday, the riders will be transferred to France on the first rest day, where they will continue their way from Dunkirk on Tuesday.