After a crash in which he almost lost his life, he starts his first Tour de France in his career.
–
Photo: Thomas SAMSON/AFP/Profimedia
Fabio Jakobsen at the finish line of the 17th stage of the Tour de France 2022.
–
Fabio Jakobsen confirmed at the beginning of the Old Lady that he belongs to the best sprinters in the world and won the 2nd stage in the mass finish.
However, he does not like the demanding climbs that the Tour is characterized by.
In yesterday’s stage, which ended in the ski resort of Peyragudes, he almost had. He arrived at the finish line with a loss of almost 40 minutes to the winner and was only 15 seconds short of the time limit.
Read more The Belgian domestic makes fun of Sagan: We will spurt!
What was worse, he had to struggle alone on the last hill of the day.
The bosses of Quick-Step ordered his domestics, who had been helping him until then, to rush to the finish line, because they too were in danger of missing the time limit.
Jakobsen finally lost his temper on the hill and almost collapsed in tears at the finish line. He was immediately helped by members of the implementation team and colleagues who were waiting for him at the finish line.
His court “bodyguard” Florian Sénéchal, who was a witness of the horror crash at the Tour of Poland 2020was happy with Jakobsen’s performance, as if the Dutch speedster had won the stage.
“Two years ago at the Tour of Poland, I saw his face after the crash. She was completely devastated… I applaud him today. Fabio is my friend, I’m glad he did it,” Sénéchal was happy and added:
“Already in the Alps, I told him repeatedly to think about his family and his colleagues. That if he survives the mountains, on Sunday he can fight for the triumph on the Champs Elysées for the first time in his life.”
Read more The boss of Bory criticizes Sagan: He is missing the most important thing
The exhausted Jakobsen, who declined requests from journalists for interviews after the stage, was also praised by Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels.
“Coming to the finish line of such a difficult stage is like a victory for him. The whole team was overcome with emotion. We believed he would eventually make it, and he did,” Steels said.
If Jakobsen “survives” even today’s stage with the finish on the iconic Hautacam, he will get two more chances to win.
A mass finish and a battle of the best sprinters is expected on Friday in the city of Cahors, as well as on Sunday’s last stage in Paris.
––
––
–
–
