Tour de Hongrie

Fabio Jakobsen basked in two wins at a single stage race for the third time this season, repeating the feat of both Volta a la Catalunya and Volta so Algarve. His second successive stage win in just twenty-four hours, this time in Nyíregyháza, also saw him top the Tour of Hungary overall standings, which he leads by six seconds.

Rain and the slippery roads complicated things in the closing kilometers of Friday’s stage, but Fabio remained calm and collected, as his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl teammates increased the speed and stretched out the field on the long finishing straight. Then, the “Hurricane of Heukelum” patiently waited for the last 200 meters to launch the sprint down the right-hand side of the road, powering like a locomotive on the way to his eighth victory of the season.

“This is another team win. Iljo did a very good job at the front, controlling the breakaway the entire day, while the other guys kept me sheltered and made sure we stayed together when things became hectic. In the finale, as some teams passed us, I tried to follow Florian, then we lost each other a bit and got boxed in, but we remained confident we could find each other again and that’s what we did.”

“After Florian peeled off the front, I surfed some wheels until 200 meters to go, and despite the wet roads, I could finish it off, which makes me happy. The yellow jersey comes as a nice bonus after this victory, which is good for the confidence following a month with no racing”, concluded the new overall leader of the Tour of Hungary after he delivered the 870th win in Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s history.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images