Stage 2: Fabio Sprints to Win

Make it two-for-two for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl on Stage 2 of the 2022 Tour de France. Their much touted sprinter Fabio Jakobsen celebrates his return from a near fatal cycling crash in 2020 to beat Wout Van Aert and other hopefuls to the line.

Jakobsen’s win comes right on the heels of teammate Yves Lampaert’s surprise time-trial win in Stage 1. The sprint victory should put to bed complaints from all except the most ardent fans let down by fellow sprinter Cavendish’s non-selection for the Quick-Step Tour squad.

Magnus makes mince meat of midstage mini mountains.

In other news Magnus Cort Nielsen claims the polka dot jersey for the King of the Mountains classification. He rode out on a determined 4-man breakaway to take all the 1st place points on a trio of category-4 climbs midrace. It’s a sweet reward for the Dane riding in his own country during the three stage prologue in Denmark and a nice return for an EF-Easypost cycling team that has been short on wins this season.

Magnus Cort Nielsen takes time midrace to celebrate the KOM points.

The ballyhooed winds of the Great Belt Bridge did not shred the peloton as predicted. On the contrary, the gusts over the 18km span to the finish triggered more conservative racing and every rider rider in the peloton, first to last, finished in the bunch with the same time: 04:34:34. As a result, the aggregate times remain untouched, except for bonus seconds earned by placing first, second, and third — enough to compel Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step) to hand off the yellow jersey to Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Vismo).

Let’s take a look at the GC battle through 2 stages (only real contenders, plus a few oddballs, listed here).