Fabio Jakobsen takes our team's 73rd win of 2018, wrapping up the points classification at the Tour of Guangxi.
What a way to round off a superb year for Quick-Step Floors! The Tour of Guangxi was the season's 37th and final World Tour event and our squad made sure off going out with a bang, after Fabio Jakobsen capped off the perfect job of his teammates and blasted through the rain to a clear victory in Guilin, where the second edition of the Asian race concluded.
"It's been an amazing season for me and the greatest year in the history of Quick-Step Floors, so to put an end to it like that gives me huge joy! If you win as a neo-pro seven times, you have to be happy, and I am delighted with how things went this season. These results only motivate me even more for 2019, when I hope to continue my development, become faster and get more victories for the team", said Fabio, whose roll of achievements since turning pro includes also Scheldeprijs and a stage at the BinckBank Tour.
On Sunday, after Rémi Cavagna's early attempt to go clear was thwarted by the peloton, Quick-Step Floors moved to the front of the peloton and controlled the six-man group which eventually broke away after 30 kilometers, clawing back time on the hilly part of stage 6 and drawing closer to the escapees, before mopping them up inside the final ten kilometers.
Already a stage winner at the race, Fabio Jakobsen was once again put in a perfect slot by Davide Martinelli when it came down to crunch time and delivered another fine sprint to see off the challenge of Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) and take a victory that sealed his triumph in the points classification, which Quick-Step Floors won for the second consecutive year at the Tour of Guangxi.
"The stage wasn't easy, with the rain and the two climbs we had in the last 50 kilometers, but the guys were always by my side, while making sure they reel in the escapees before the closing kilometers, where the speed was really high", said 22-year-old Fabio. "I had Philippe and Davide with me, who did a great lead-out, leaving me on the wheel of Pascal with 300 meters to go. I just did my sprint and I am happy for having managed to notch up not only the win, but also the points classification, as this marks my first jersey at World Tour level."
Besides taking the 2018 tally to a monumental 73 UCI victories, Quick-Step Floors also placed two riders in the top 10 overall at the Tour of Guangxi – second-year pro Rémi Cavagna and Dries Devenyns – who concluded the race in fourth and ninth, respectively.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
