Tour of Guangxi: Jakobsen strikes again for Quick-Step Floors

Fabio Jakobsen gave Quick-Step Floors a 72nd victory of the season by winning the sprint finish in Nanning on stage 3 of the Tour of Guangxi in China.

The talented young Dutchman beat stage 2 winner Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Max Walscheid (Team Sunweb) in the rain-soaked sprint, taking a different line down the centre of the road as his rivals fought along the barriers.

Stage 1 winner Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) was only fourth and so lost the race leader’s red jersey to Jakobsen due to the daily time bonuses awarded on the line. Jakobsen now leads Ackermann by four seconds, with Groenewegen third at six seconds.

It was Jakobsen’s sixth win of 2018 – his debut season at WorldTour level with Quick Step Floors. The 22 year-old also won Scheldeprijs in the spring, Nokere Koerse and had stage victories at the BinckBank Tour and Tour des Fjords.

"Today I just followed the team because in the last two days I went a bit rogue and did it on my own," Jakobsen said.

"I was a bit nervous I think, I know I’m fast but that I could pass is amazing. This one is because of the team and because of my sprint."

The 125km stage around Nanning was another fast day, with the city centre circuits and wide roads lining out the peloton. The race started in the dry but grey clouds were gathering and lead to another wet finish.

The break again formed early, with Owain Doull (Team Sky), Manuele Boaro (Bahrain-Merida), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) and Nathan van Hooydonck (BMC Racing) bravely going off the front to challenge the grip of the sprinters’ teams and sweep up the mid-stage bonuses. However, several sprint teams again took control of the chase and kept the quartet under control and within two minutes.

Van Hooydonck was the first to be caught, with the other three finally being reeled in with five kilometres to go after LottoNL-Jumbo took charge at the head of the peloton for Groenewegen.

However, Quick-Step Floors were keen to add to their long list of victories and carefully piloted Jakobsen. The wide road again made it difficult to control the lead-out but Jakobsen followed his teammates and emerged down the centre of the road as Ackermann and Walscheid went down the barriers.

Walscheid perhaps thought he had won but the photo finish showed that Jakobsen was slightly faster down the middle of the road.

After three flat stages dominated by the sprinter, Friday’s 152.2km stage from Nanning to the uphill finish at Mashan Nongla Scenic Spot is expected to shake up the race and reveal who can win the final overall classification.

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