Fabio Jakobsen finishes his first European stage race as the highest-ranked rider of Quick-Step Floors.
Stage 3 of the Tour des Fjords (Farsund-Egersund, 186.3 kilometers) put on the table a rolling terrain, which contained several classified climbs, that made for a really aggressive and relentless race, which was difficult to control by a team, as attacks came early and forced the bunch drive a hard tempo in order to keep the leaders in sight.
The hills led to an important selection, severely reducing the peloton by the time the riders tackled the circuit, where Quick-Step Floors made sure of protecting GC leader and stage 1 victor Fabio Jakobsen, who gave his best to remain in the main group, but had to concede the jersey at the end, as the countless attacks became impossible to match on the hard hills around Egersund. The 21-year-old finished in the overall standing as the best placed Quick-Step Floors rider, half a minute behind Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott), who came second on the stage and won the race thanks to the bonus seconds.
After concluding Tour des Fjords, Quick-Step Floors will remain in Norway but move their attention to the inaugural Hammer Stavanger, the spectacular competition comprising three short but intense races – Hammer Climb (79km), Hammer Sprint (92km) and Hammer Chase (49km) – scheduled between 25-27 May.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen/ Getty Images
