No bunch sprint, as atrocious weather flips the script.
Crosswinds shattered the peloton in the opening kilometers, only 17 riders making it into the first group. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl missed the split, but once things settled down, Michael Mørkøv, Stijn Steels and Zdenek Stybar rallied around Fabio Jakobsen and began setting the tempo through the lashing rain to reduce the deficit and bridge across.
The Wolfpack erased more than a minute in the space of just 20 kilometers, bringing the chasing group within just 24 seconds of the leaders, but with the other members of the group not willing to share the workload, the gap quickly ballooned again to over a minute. Our riders didn’t give up and rode strongly, but the inclement weather and reduced numbers made it almost impossible to pull back any more time.
Eventually, they came at the finish some three minutes down on winner Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), and Fabio Jakobsen concluded as the team’s highest-ranked rider, in 15th place.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
