Mathieu van der Poel wins Baloise Belgium Tour 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Fabio Jakobsen celebrates at finish line as stage winner and dedicates the victory to Gino Mäder at the Baloise Belgium Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) was the fastest in the final bunch sprint on stage 5 at the Baloise Belgium Tour. The Dutch sprinter captured his second stage win of the five-day race, this time ahead of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo) in Brussels.
Jakobsen dedicated his victory to Gino Mäder, with whom he has fond memories from the 2021 Vuelta a España, saying, “This one was for Gino. I thought a lot about him these past couple of days and during today’s stage. I had this picture of us together on the final podium of the Vuelta, both with our distinctive jerseys after a hard race. He will be missed for sure, by everyone, but especially by his family and friends," Jakobsen said.
“I’m happy with the two wins I got this week in Belgium. The preparation went well, and this makes me satisfied. The legs are getting better and better, and the confidence is there, which is important as I get closer to my second half of the season goals.”
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) wrapped up the five days of racing, winning the overall title. He moved into the purple leader's jersey following the stage 3 time trial and extended his lead after winning the previous day's stage 4.
Van der Poel sealed the overall title by a margin of 40 seconds over Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) and Casper Pedersen (Soudal-QuickStep).
How it unfolded
The final stage 5 at the Baloise Belgium Tour was a 194km race in Brussels. It began with an opening large loop with two intermediate sprints, and then the peloton travelled toward the two 40km closing circuits before the finish line in Brussels.
A breakaway of seven riders set off within the first 20km of racing that included Alex Colman (Flanders-Baloise), Stefano Gandin (Corratec-Selle Italia), Andrea Pietrobon (Eolo-Kometa), Kay De Bruyckere (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), Lucas Janssen (Beat), Kobe Vanoverschelde (Tarteletto-Isorex), and Thimo Willems (VolkerWessels).
The riders gained over a minute on the field led by Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal-QuickStep as Colman rolled through to take the points in the first intermediate sprint in Schepdaal. Colman also won the intermediate sprint in Grimbergen at the end of the first of two final laps.
In the final 20km, Colman, De Bruyckere and Janssen were dropped from the break while Willems, Vanoverschelde, Pietrobon, and Gandin held a slim eight seconds on the peloton.
Back together in the closing kilometres, six riders crashed with 9km to the finish line as the teams with strong sprinters organised their final lead-outs.
Alpecin-Deceuninck were the first to start their lead-out for Philipsen but were soon rivalled by teams Soudal-QuickStep and Lotto Dstny in the last three kilometres. In the end, it was Soudal-QuickStep that delivered Jakobsen to victory – his second of the week and 43rd of his career.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
