The European Champion was hit by misfortune in the finale of Flanders’ oldest race.
Fabio Jakobsen targeted a third victory in Scheldeprijs – after the ones of 2018 and 2019 – but a mechanical with just 200 meters to go spelled the end of his chances at the 111th edition, which took place Wednesday.
The absence of the rain and crosswinds meant the peloton enjoyed a calm day, unlike last year, when the race was fragmented in the first hour, leaving a small group to fight for the win. Soudal Quick-Step controlled things at the front of the peloton, as Tim Declercq kept the escapees on a tight leash.
After everything came back together, Florian Sénéchal and Bert Van Lerberghe navigated through the bunch with the European Champion in their wheel, but unfortunately, he couldn’t get in the mix and finished outside the top 20 the race won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Schoten.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
