Fabio Jakobsen edged a thrilling sprint finish to win stage two of the Tour de France in Denmark.
The Dutch rider, making his Tour debut, beat Wout van Aert in Nyborg after a flat 202.5km route from Roskilde.
Jakobsen, 25, only returned to cycling 15 months ago after suffering serious injuries at the 2020 Tour of Poland.
Van Aert’s ride was enough for him to take the yellow jersey from fellow Belgian rider Yves Lampaert, who won the individual time trial on Friday.
Jakobsen’s triumph came after several crashes towards the end of the stage including a huge pile-up with 2.5km to go as the sprint trains jostled for position.
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar rolled over the line with a double puncture, while four-time winner Chris Froome was among the riders delayed, albeit none lost time because the crash happened within 3km of the finish.
Jakobsen’s selection for Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl had deprived Britain’s Mark Cavendish of the opportunity of surpassing the great Eddy Merckx’s record of stage wins, but the Dutchman’s victory wrote a wonderful story of its own.
Having proved to be of the fastest and most reliable finishers in the peloton since his comeback, he rode off the wheel of Van Aert to power to victory at the earliest available opportunity.
“Today is ‘incroyable’ as we would say in French,” said Jakobsen.
“For me it was a long process, step by step. A lot of people helped me along the way. This is to pay them back so they can see that it was not for nothing.
“I’m happy that I still enjoy riding the bike racing and luckily I can still win. It is an amazing day. This is what we train for, this is why we race – a stage in the Tour de France. I have been dreaming about that for 15 years.
“It is the biggest race. As a sprinter you want to make it here and win.”
Stage two results
1. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 4hrs 34mins 34secs
2. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
3. Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek-Segafredo)
4. Danny van Poppel (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe)
5. Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck)
6. Peter Sagan (Svk/TotalEnergies)
7. Jeremy Lecroq (Fra/B&B Hotels)
8. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/BikeExchange-Jayco)
9. Luca Mozzato (Ita/B&B Hotels)
10. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra/Arkea Samsic)
General classification after stage two
1. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) 4hrs 49mins 50secs
2. Yves Lampaert (Bel/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +1sec
3. Tadaj Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +08secs
4. Filippo Ganna (Ita/Ineos Grenadiers) +11secs
5. Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek-Segafredo) +12secs
6. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Fenix) +14secs
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) +16secs
8. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) +17secs
9. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Trek-Segafredo) +18secs
10. Dylan Teuns (Bel/Bahrain Victorious) +21secs
Selected others
13. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +24secs
15. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +25secs
18. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +26secs
112. Chris Froome (GB/Israel-Premier Tech) +1min 17secs
