Two years after his horror fall, Fabio Jakobsen crowned his comeback with a stage win in the Tour de France. Wout Van Aert took over the yellow jersey after the 2nd stage.
Two years after his terrible fall, after which he fought for his life, Fabio Jakobsen has crowned his comeback with a stage win in the Tour de France. Wout Van Aert took over the yellow jersey after the 2nd stage from Roskilde to Nyborg.
Jakobsen won on Saturday (July 2nd, 2022) after 202.5 kilometers on the spectacular stage in Denmark, which led just before the finish sprint across the Great Belt, the 18-kilometer sea bridge through the Baltic Sea.
The Dutchman from Team Quick Step Alpha Viny decided the sprint ahead of the Belgian Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and the Dane Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). Jakobsen celebrated his first stage win in the Tour of France, confirming his role as a sprint favorite.
Van Aert takes over yellow jersey
Van Aert Thanks to the time bonus, he took over the yellow jersey from Yves Lampaert, who had already experienced a moment of shock on the bridge over the Great Belt. The Belgian was temporarily left behind after a fall, but with the help of his teammates he made it back into the field.
Two kilometers from the finish, there was a mass crash in the peloton, which also held up defending champion Tadej Pogacar. However, since the falls happened within the last three kilometers, they had no impact on the time gaps in the general classification.
Jakobsen’s comeback: “Dreamed of it for 15 years”
Jakobsen celebrated his own cycling fairy tale with his victory. Two years ago, the Dutchman’s career seemed over. After a bad fall on the Tour of Poland when he was hit by his compatriot Dylan Groenewegen had been pushed into the balustrades, Jakobsen was in an artificial coma and had to be operated on several times. After the fall, he only had one tooth of his own and had to have 130 stitches in his face.
“That’s incredible. It was a long process. A lot of people helped me to come back. Today I paid them something back. This is an amazing day. I’ve dreamed of this for 15 years“said the Dutchman after the race.
The best German was Max Walscheid (Neuwied/Cofidis), who finished twelfth. “There were a lot of tight situations, I touched the brakes more than once. The track was okay, the wind was very close to the front. So everyone was still there. This made it very disorganized and hectic‘ Walscheid said.
A lot of nervousness when crossing the Great Belt
The final over the Great Belt had been the main topic in the days before the race, the fear of wind edges was great. Tour director Christian Prudhomme only decided on Saturday morning which side of the bridge the field should be led over. Apparently the focus on the final kilometers was so great that the stage languished for a long time.
The nervousness in the field was the main source of excitement. After only a few hundred meters on the bridge was the opening winner Lampaert involved in a fall. Only four kilometers later had Lampaert with the support of two helpers, managed to catch up to the field, which was reduced to around one hundred riders. On the second part of the connection across the Great Belt there was a headwind, which neutralized all attacks and finally led to the sprint final.
Last Denmark stage on Sunday
At the end of the guest appearance in Denmark, the tour will continue on Sunday with the third stage over 183 kilometers from Vejle to Sönderborg. This is followed by the first rest day before continuing in France on Tuesday.