With the so-called “edge” stages, it’s always the same story. The organizers propose, but the wind disposes. Since the presentation of the Tour de France 2022 route last October, this 2e (Danish) day between Roskilde and Nyborg had been packed like a small edging world championship.
Just imagine: the wind has already derailed two wagons of a freight train on this Storebæltsbroen, sold with its 17 kilometers above the Great Belt strait as the bridge where the general classification could take shape. At least getting lost for some. “In very flat regions like here in Denmark, we try to play with the elements. But edging is not an exact science,” warned the technical director of the event, Thierry Gouvenou.
This Saturday, July 2, the wind has posed a rabbit to the “Mister traced” of the Tour. Not strong enough and from the front, it did not allow the peloton to be scattered like a puzzle and to blur all our bearings for the next three weeks. All this is not really Fabio Jakobsen’s problem. The Dutchman from the Quick-Step, he pressed on the accelerator in the last fifty meters of the stage to blow the victory to Wout van Aert, very “Poulidor” from the start.
Déjà 2e during the time trial in Copenhagen, the Belgian swapped at least the yellow of his Jumbo-Visma jersey for that of the overall leader. Not enough to sadden its previous owner, Yves Lampaert, a happy man and teammate on arrival. The victory of his sprinter makes him happy, and Jakobsen (25) knows what he owes him. “Yves was fantastic. He fell on the bridge, he came back and helped me. Yesterday he was motivating me saying I was going to win today.he thanked him at the microphone of France 2.
Almost four minutes later, Tadej Pogacar crosses the line at the pace of a cyclist and on the rims with two flat tires… But with his eternal mischievous smile. The outgoing double winner was slowed down by a fall in the last three kilometers, but was reclassified in time from the first as required by the regulations. For now, the Slovenian is still lucky.
A long Danish guard of honor
No one therefore lost the Tour after the Great Belt strait, as expected, feared or hoped for. A suprise ? Not for a Lampaert, rider, team member and also the weatherman of the Quick-Step. “There will be a headwind tomorrow [samedi]it does not make borders », he warned, Friday, at the end of his victorious time. Despite everything, the Belgian found this day in yellow “very nervous”. “It was still very windy and the roads were narrow. There were also a lot of people on the side of the road…”
For this 202.2 kilometer stage, the Danish public formed a long line of honor for the riders, but with the most Nordic respect. At the exit of Roskilde, Radio Tour lists the names of the first escapees of this 2022 edition. Pierre Rolland and Cyrille Barthe are for the B & B Hôtels-KTM. This “Roland-Barthe” association gives the opportunity to discuss the school of French semiology while waiting for the great battle then expected. The runaways have red dots on their heads. Problem: the Norwegian Sven Erik Bystrom (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and the Dane Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education-EasyPost) too.
The Scandinavian alliance takes advantage of the first false flat – erected as a side of 4e category because it is necessary to spice up these stages in full – to drop the two Frenchmen, disorderly in their attacks. “I put myself in the red and after, behind, they were stronger. They saw that we were two B & Bs so they wanted to exclude us directly from the match., admits Barthe. Without forcing on his talents as a sprinter, Cort Nielsen won the three mountain classifications. The polka dot jersey assured, the EF Education-EasyPost rider lets Bystrom travel a bit alone. The 2014 U23 world champion knows how to catch the eye of the combative prize jury.
“Well, we’re going to avoid taking the plunge!” »
And those edges? They arrive ? Always not. The Jumbo, the Quick-Step and the Ineos may accelerate to get back to the front of the peloton in grouped formation at the slightest change of direction, Eole is definitely not doing its part. Still, the nervousness was palpable. “There could have been more fighting, sooner, afterwards, there you go, with 18 kilometers with unfavorable wind, it calmed everyone down”summarizes the Frenchman Anthony Turgis.
On this bridge of all the announced dangers, the images are beautiful, the spectacle is less wild and brutal than expected. A fall at the front of the peloton, however, sends some of them to the ground. Among the unfortunate… Anthony Turgis. At this precise moment, the 2e of the last Milan-San Remo must tell himself that he would avoid sea bathing in the Baltic. “When I lost the bike and even saw the edge, I thought: “good, we will avoid taking the plunge!” But it’s ok, the barriers were quite high and there was still a little room to get on the ground.the TotalEnergies runner prefers to laugh, despite a painful hip.
The native of Bourg-la-Reine (Hauts-de-Seine) risks dragging out his sentence on Sunday (“we’ll see if it’s broken or if it’s a hematoma that’s swollen”) for a 3e stage announced as calmer, between Vejle and Sonderborg (182 kilometers). Unless the wind decides to surprise his world. After all, edging sometimes happens when you don’t order it.
The victory of a young survivor
“I have come a long way. » Fabio Jakobsen measures the meaning of his words. For his discovery of the Tour de France, at 25, the Dutchman has already raised his arms. Who could have imagined it a little less than two years ago? The doubt did not come from his talent. Before August 6, 2020, the native of Gorinchem embodied the future of sprinting. But a serious fall at the bottom of a finish – downhill – on the Tour of Poland changed his life.
For several days, his vital prognosis is engaged. His very long rehabilitation: the Quick-Step runner goes through surgical operations to reconstruct his face. He returned to competition eight months later on the Tour of Turkey. A first miracle. After a few races to feel like a runner again, he regained his strength and his instinct during the massive arrivals with three stage victories in the Vuelta last summer.
« Those who know me know all the sacrifices I made, it’s not for nothing “admitted a winner of the day moved, but already ready to double the bet, Sunday, with a 3e stage promised to sprinters.
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