Fabio Jakobsen called for the UCI and race organisers to avoid chicane finishes for sprint stages at the Tour de France after Jasper Philipsen closed the door on Wout Van Aert as riders switched left and right across the road in the final five hundred metres of the stage 3 sprint in Bayonne.
Van Aert was not angry after the stage, there were no tantrums like after stage 2, and Philipsen insisted that he only followed the road and did no wrong. However, Jakobsen, who finished fifth after struggling to find a way to the front as the rider switched from left to right, was not so happy.
The Soudal-QuickStep sprinter knows the dangers of sprinting more than most after his life-threatening crash at the 2020 Tour de Pologne. He wants sprint finishes to be simpler and so safer.
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“For me, I don’t think it’s the nicest victory of his career,” Jakobsen said referring to Philipsen and the way he closed the door on Van Aert after jumping first into the final curve.
“After the finish, the first thing Van Aert told me was that he was happy to stay upright. I can understand him. He lost a chance to win,” Jakobsen said.
“I think we (the riders) and the Tour organisers need to look at the parcours and a finish like this. We all saw in the past what that can do, when a rider goes from one side to the other. If you create a chicane, riders want to go the shortest way, from left to right. For sure it’s not the nicest finish of the Tour.”
Race organisers argue that technical finishes are part of cycling and a finish design depends on the roads of the host town.
Jakobsen suggested the final kilometre of a sprint stage should be much simpler and so safer.
“We can have long kilometres for finishes, just don’t use a downhill, don’t use a left, right in the last five hundred metres. It’s not so hard uh… But if I say it like this, apparently it is,” he said sarcastically.
Jakobsen was clearly frustrated that he could not sprint at full speed after his teammates led the peloton for the final kilometres of the stage.
“The first bunch sprint in the Tour de France is always hectic. I think everyone could see it was today,” he explained.
“I got pushed off Morkov’s wheel by Laporte and Van Aert and so I had to find his wheel again. When we got together, it was time for him to go but then we got boxed in by Jayco and Lotto. I was in the fifth or sixth position with fresh legs but I couldn't get out. It is what it is…
“The consolation is that we had a strong team and I think we can take the lead in the sprints and so win at least a stage in this Tour.”
