First race in the Dutch National Champion jersey, first podium for the 22-year-old.
A relatively short leg, 132.3km around Krakow – the birthplace of Pope Paul John ll – kicked off proceedings at the 76th Tour de Pologne. The stage was animated by three riders, whose four-minute maximum advantage was kept under control by the Deceuninck – Quick-Step boys, who made sure of overhauling them before entering the local circuit, which the peloton covered four times.
The parcours was flat, but a series of technical corners added a lot of nervousness to the race and led to several crashes aa the sprinters’ teams began fighting for positioning with the flamme rouge in sight. Boxed in twice with 500 meters to go, Fabio Jakobsen still showed his sprinting prowess, taking third – behind Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) – after coming out of nowhere down the right-side barriers.
“Unfortunately, I was a bit blocked in the sprint, but the legs are feeling good and I am confident that in the coming days I will be able to fight for victory. Third place isn’t a bad result in the end, but we came here to win and we hope it will happen soon”, said Fabio after his 13th top 3 finish of the season.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen/ Getty Images
