Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

Jakobsen third after Koolskamp photo-finish

Fabio Jakobsen came close to retaining his title at Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen, the 165.1km race held Friday on an ideal course for the sprinters. The European Champion concluded third after a tight finish which needed the jury to decide the winner, only a few centimeters separating from Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who took the victory.

Soudal Quick-Step was one of the team controlling the race, Jordi Warlop – whose transfer to our team was announced in the morning – doing a great job in the peloton behind the breakaway, who got reeled in before the final lap. Unfortunately, the Belgian was involved in a crash and had to abandon, but on the plus side, he suffered just some abrasions to his knee and elbow.

In the bunch sprint, Jakobsen benefited from a solid lead-out of Michael Mørkøv, and racked up his 12th podium since the start of the season, a result he talked about after the stage: “We had a very strong team today and I came close, but just wasn’t fast enough. Maybe if I had gone a bit later I could keep my speed, but that’s sprinting. But the morale is there for Sunday, when I want to sprint again in Gooikse Pijl, my last race as European Champion. I’m really motivated, as I want to end my time with the Wolfpack in style.”

 

Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images