The Dutch sprinter took home two stage wins and the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana points jersey.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to the season – the team’s 20th in the peloton: a hat-trick of stage victories, two distinctive jerseys and a strong general classification made for an excellent Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, a race where our team returned after two years.
It was the first outing of the season for both Remco Evenepoel and Fabio Jakobsen, and the two combined for three wins, the most recent of these being netted by the “Hurricane of Heukelum”, who once again produced a huge acceleration and showed a clean pair of wheels to his rivals in the hectic bunch sprint in Valencia, on the final day of competition. It was Fabio’s second victory of the week, after the one in Torrent, and it brought him a well-deserved points jersey – the fourth of his career.
“This second win tasted even better than the first one. I am happy and want to thank all the guys for helping me have such a strong start to the season. It feels extraordinary to be part of this team and have such great riders work hard for you and believe in you. These two victories give me a lot of confidence for my next race, the Volta ao Algarve”, said a delighted Fabio after the 27th success of his career.
Sunday afternoon, Jakobsen wasn’t the only Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider to make a visit to the podium. Apart from bringing the Wolfpack’s first win of the year and finishing runner-up in the general classification of the 72nd edition, Evenepoel also took home the white jersey, becoming the first Belgian rider to win the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana youth standings.
“We can be satisfied with how things went here. It was a good test for all our guys who began their season in Spain. We took three victories, the team rode strongly and with a lot of motivation, and we even learned a lot from the stage 4 bunch sprint. All the riders did a great job and can be happy and proud of themselves”, added sports director Tom Steels.
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