Hugely popular stage winner in the bunch sprint was the fearless Fabio Jakobsen. His backstory – a grim fairytale – from fighting for his life to fighting to the line, is the talk of the day. In the hectic lead out, with most of the peloton stacked up in or behind a crash behind them, Jakobsen was riding alongside Dylan Groenewegen who was held responsible for the terrible crash that took out the Dutchman. So the perfect start for Quickstep with 2 wins in 2, so we must salute their judgement about leaving Cavendish behind; Jakobsen in characteristically gracious fashion said that they both deserved to be there.
Team of the Day
Top scoring minileague team for Stage 2 was again Mike’s Piles non comprises (“batteries not included” – with thanks to my 1971 Collins “Gem” French-English dictionary – which is good to hear that someone is taking a stand against mechanical doping) with new race leader Van Aert in 2nd and the great Dane Pedersen in 3rd.
Just 3 teams included Jacobsen in their line-up: Dan’s Only Half a Leg, Matt’s Les Roulers de Ricard, and my Les Tortues de la Grande Vitesse. PS my team appears to have the distinction of being the only one NOT including either Rog or Pog.
Stat du Jour
It looks like most of us are biassed towards the youthful end of the peloton, compared to the average age of all riders. Of the road teams, the youngest average age is Team DSM (26 years and 300 days) while the oldest is Israel Premier Tech, the World team retirement home, at 33 years and 142 days (both Fuglsang and Froome are 37).
Post card from Funen
Samedi den 2. juli 2022. Nyborg.
Funen is the Island which was home to Denmark’s greatest classical composer, my musical hero Karl Nielsen. One of his epic symphonies would have been a fitting backdrop to today’s drama.
The stage finish town was Nyborg (Denmark’s new castle). To get here there was a spectacular view as the Grand Tour belted over the Grand Belt Bridge, one of the longest in the world. Wind, nerves, crashes and chases, although not as chaotic as anticipated (or as portrayed in the headlines). There was a pile-up within the last 3 km but everyone finished.
Danish pastry for breakfast – a Kagemand is in the shape of a little person, with icing and sweets. Apparently it is a favourite of children’s birthday party when traditionally the head is cut off while all the children scream. I must suggest it for my granddaughter’s 5th birthday on Wednesday.