Fabio Jakobsen showed on Sunday to the team management of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl why he should be the sprinter of the Belgian team in the Tour de France. The 25-year-old rider won the Eleven Cities Round by beating several big names in the bunch sprint.
Jakobsen settled in the Belgian one-day race with start and finish in Bruges with the Australian Caleb Ewan (second) and the Belgian Tim Merlier (third). These two top sprinters together account for eight victories this season.
Jakobsen sprinted to his ninth victory of 2022 in West Flanders. He previously won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and a stage in Paris-Nice.
The Dutchman will normally make his Tour de France debut next month, although Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl will only determine the final selection of eight riders in a week, after the Tour of Switzerland.
“It is no secret that we are going to sprint in the Tour with Fabio Jakobsen,” said team boss Patrick Lefevere in his column in the Belgian newspaper on Saturday. The newspapaer† “Although I continue to speak with two words ad nauseam. Last year Sam Bennett was also a certainty, so to speak, but in the end Cavendish went to the Tour.”
Mark Cavendish, who won 34 stages in the Tour in his career, is also this year on the list of eleven names who have a chance at Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl to participate in the Tour de France. The 37-year-old Briton has no competitions on his program until the Tour. Jakobsen will ride the Tour of Belgium next week.