Dutch neo-pro Fabio Jakobsen sprinted to victory in Grimstad, Norway on stage one of the Tour des Fjords today which marked the third victory of the season for the Quick-Step Floors rider having already won Nokere Koerse and Scheldeprijs.
The longest stage of this year’s Tour des Fjords kicked off from Lindesnes and took the peloton on a local circuit in Grimstad, the hometown of Dag Otto Lauritzen, the first Norwegian to win a Tour de France stage, three decades ago. Quick-Step Floors were again prominent from the start, taking the reins in the bunch and setting the pace behind the five-man breakaway which was overhauled in the last kilometres.
Niki Terpstra kept everything together despite some late attacks and helped by his teammates moved Fabio Jakobsen in an excellent position before the flamme rouge arch, where a 400-metre hill averaging 5.5% strung out the bunch.
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) was the first to open the sprint, but Fabio Jakobsen found an opening on the inside and outpowered his opponents for the 34th victory of Quick-Step Floors this year. Moreno Hofland (Lotto Soudal) took second with Timo Roosen (Team LottoNL-Jumbo) to complete an all-Dutch podium.
“We controlled the race from the start with Tim and Davide, who took the front and remained there for the first half of the stage, doing a fantastic job,” said Jakobsen, the first leader of the overall classification at the race and also the best young rider of the event.
“As we closed in on the break, the speed went up, but James, Niki and Davide protected and put me in a great position at the foot of the climb.”
“In the final, I just took the wheel of Boasson Hagen, passed him with 100 meters to go and raised my arms in celebration. It feels really great to get my third success of the year. This victory came as a result of a great team effort and I am happy I could finish it off.”
