Paris-Nice: Jakobsen celebrates in Orléans

Fabio Jakobsen powered to his first World Tour win of the season with another phenomenal sprint at the end of a stage battered by ruthless crosswinds and broken into numerous echelons just 70 kilometers from the start.
After leaving behind Auffargis, the peloton allowed three men to open a gap, but things quickly changed shortly after passing through Dourdan, the site of two Eddy Merckx victories back in the ‘70s. The wind picked up and soon the bunch splintered, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl being one of the teams that decided to spread chaos. This spelled the end of the breakaway, and despite a brief regrouping with 60 kilometers to go, the field was again chopped to pieces once the wind intensified.
Having four members in the newly-formed front group, the Wolfpack made sure of controlling every attempt and setting a pace that prevented the chasers from rejoining the group that numbered around 30 men. As they entered Orléans, which returned as a stage finish for the first time since 2012 – when Tom Boonen won – Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl took over the reins again and stormed to the front with Yves Lampaert, Zdenek Stybar and Florian Sénéchal, who dominated the finale, providing another outstanding lead-out to Fabio Jakobsen.
The Dutchman – who less than ten days ago came out on top at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne – blew past his opponents with an incredible rush to the line inside the last 100 meters, taking his maiden Paris-Nice win and the team’s 12th success of the season.
“We knew that today would be a day of echelons and we love them, so we were prepared for what was to come. It wasn’t easy and there was a lot of nervousness the entire stage, but we remained confident and very motivated. Being in four riders meant we could control things at the end, where Yves did a huge pull over the bridge until the last kilometer, then Styby took over and Florian sheltered me until I could launch my sprint. I like winning and I’m happy I could take my first victory here and continue this good start to the season”, explained Jakobsen after notching up Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s 17th stage success at Paris-Nice.
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Fabio Jakobsen
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
3:22:54 |
2 |
Wout van Aert Jumbo-Visma |
0:00 |
3 |
Christophe Laporte Jumbo-Visma |
0:00 |
4 |
Luka Mezgec Team BikeExchange - Jayco |
0:00 |
5 |
Mads Pedersen Trek - Segafredo |
0:00 |
6 |
Jasper Stuyven Trek - Segafredo |
0:00 |
7 |
Luca Mozzato |
0:00 |
8 |
Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides UAE Team Emirates |
0:00 |
9 |
Oliver Naesen AG2R Citroën Team |
0:00 |
10 |
Cees Bol Team DSM |
0:00 |
18 |
Florian Sénéchal
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
0:00 |
24 |
Zdeněk Štybar
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
0:00 |
38 |
Yves Lampaert
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
0:26 |
74 |
Mauri Vansevenant
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1:29 |
91 |
Iljo Keisse
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
6:43 |
132 |
Michael Mørkøv Christensen
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
9:07 |
1 |
Christophe Laporte Jumbo-Visma |
7:11:15 |
2 |
Wout van Aert Jumbo-Visma |
0:05 |
3 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
0:11 |
4 |
Pierre Latour TotalEnergies |
0:36 |
5 |
Zdeněk Štybar
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
0:38 |
6 |
Mads Pedersen Trek - Segafredo |
0:39 |
7 |
Jasper Stuyven Trek - Segafredo |
0:39 |
8 |
Florian Sénéchal
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
0:39 |
9 |
Bryan Coquard Cofidis |
0:39 |
10 |
Aleksandr Vlasov BORA - hansgrohe |
0:39 |
35 |
Fabio Jakobsen
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1:29 |
46 |
Mauri Vansevenant
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
2:08 |
49 |
Yves Lampaert
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
2:21 |
132 |
Iljo Keisse
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
13:46 |
147 |
Michael Mørkøv Christensen
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
16:10 |
1 |
Christophe Laporte Jumbo-Visma |
27 pt |
2 |
Wout van Aert Jumbo-Visma |
23 pt |
3 |
Fabio Jakobsen
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
15 pt |
4 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
12 pt |
5 |
Mads Pedersen Trek - Segafredo |
12 pt |
6 |
Pierre Latour TotalEnergies |
7 pt |
7 |
Luka Mezgec Team BikeExchange - Jayco |
7 pt |
8 |
Yevgeniy Fedorov Astana Qazaqstan Team |
6 pt |
9 |
Alexis Gougeard |
6 pt |
10 |
Jasper Stuyven Trek - Segafredo |
5 pt |
20 |
Zdeněk Štybar
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1 pt |
21 |
Florian Sénéchal
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1 pt |
1 |
Matthew Holmes Lotto Soudal |
12 pt |
2 |
Alexis Gougeard |
5 pt |
3 |
Philippe Gilbert Lotto Soudal |
4 pt |
4 |
Aimé De Gendt Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux |
4 pt |
5 |
Wout van Aert Jumbo-Visma |
3 pt |
6 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
2 pt |
7 |
Frederik Frison Lotto Soudal |
2 pt |
8 |
Christophe Laporte Jumbo-Visma |
1 pt |
9 |
Yevgeniy Fedorov Astana Qazaqstan Team |
1 pt |
10 |
Senne Leysen Alpecin-Fenix |
1 pt |
11 |
Iljo Keisse
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1 pt |
1 |
Stan Dewulf AG2R Citroën Team |
7:11:54 |
2 |
Clément Champoussin AG2R Citroën Team |
0:00 |
3 |
Stefan Bissegger EF Education-EasyPost |
0:14 |
4 |
Luca Mozzato |
0:34 |
5 |
Fred Wright Bahrain - Victorious |
1:29 |
6 |
Biniam Girmay Hailu Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux |
1:29 |
7 |
Matteo Jorgenson Movistar Team |
1:29 |
8 |
Brandon McNulty UAE Team Emirates |
1:29 |
9 |
Mauri Vansevenant
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team |
1:29 |
10 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
1:37 |
1 | Jumbo-Visma | 21:34:36 |
2 | AG2R Citroën Team | 1:06 |
3 | Trek - Segafredo | 1:06 |
4 | Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 1:06 |
5 | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:32 |
6 | TotalEnergies | 1:41 |
7 | Team DSM | 1:44 |
8 | BORA - hansgrohe | 2:00 |
9 | Cofidis | 2:22 |
10 | Bahrain - Victorious | 2:35 |