Vuelta a España: Fabio Jakobsen wins stage 4

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Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) came out on top in a hotly contested sprint to decide stage 4 of the Vuelta a España. The win marked the Dutchman’s first Grand Tour stage win since 2019 and his first since his life-threatening crash in last year’s Tour de Pologne.

Jakobsen timed his sprint to perfection to come around Arnaud Démare (Groupama FDJ) inside the final 80m on the slightly uphill finish at Molina de Aragón. Demare was forced to settle for second place, while Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) claimed third.

There were no changes in the overall standings although race leader Rein Taaramae did crash heavily in the final 3km. The Estonian was able to finish the stage and will remain in the leader’s jersey as his fall came within the final 3km.

The win for Jakobsen though was thoroughly deserved and he was swamped at the finish by his teammates and congratulated by several of his rivals, such is the high regard for the Deceuninck rider who this time last year was left fighting for his life after a huge crash in Poland. The comeback has been long, and while the 24-year-old has already won twice this year with two stage wins in the Tour de Wallonie this Vuelta stage win marked a significant marker in his recovery.

The Dutchman had to do it the hard way though in the technical finish that saw several teams try but fail to take control of the peloton. Groupama FDJ finally wrestled control in the final 1,000m, just as the road briefly dipped before the final shallow climb, but despite having two teammates Démare came up short.

Jakobsen and Jasper Philipsen were both in contention just before the sprint was launched but it was Jakobsen who forced his way onto Démare’s wheel. When the Frenchman opened his sprint Jakobsen held his nerve, only coming through with the line in sight before celebrating a well-deserved victory.

“It’s a dream come true. After the crash, I was a long way back, but I’m happy I’m here. A lot of time and effort has gone into this by a lot of people, and it’s also their victory. I’m talking about all the doctors and surgeons and medical staff in Poland, through to my second family here with the team, and everything in between. It’s also their victory. It’s also my family’s victory, because they’re the reason I’m here," Jakobsen said.

“It’s just a hectic bunch. All the GC teams want to be in the front, and we understand that. 3km from the finish we tried to take over. There was a climb and at the top I could find Bert [Van Lergberghe] and [Zdenek] Stybar. We went into the downhill in position 15-20, then Bert just took me to the front. I could start my sprint on the inside because there was a slight turn to the right. I found the wheel of Démare, who I think was the guy to beat today, and I just had a little bit more in the legs at the end today, so I was happy I could pass him. 

“You never know for sure but you always try. The team had faith from the beginning and I’m just happy I could pay them back in this way because this is also their victory.”

How it unfolded

With a bunch sprint on the cards there was little interest from the main field to form an early break and the sprinters’ were more than happy to see just Carlos Canal and Angel Madrazo of Burgos-BH and Joan Bou of Euskaltel-Euskadi go up the road.

Intermarche controlled the pace for the early kilometres and the three-man break never established a threatening lead during the entire stage. With 50km to go the gap between the trio and the peloton stood at just a minute and the most significant incident for several hours came when Primož Roglič (Jumbo Visma) had a bike change.

Groupama FDJ hit the front with force with 20km to go and the break were reeled in with 13.8km to go. The GC riders’ teams and the sprinters’ squads vied for the front of the peloton as the pace gradually rose with Movistar, Bora Hansgrohe, Ineos Grenadiers and QuickStep lined out.

With 5km to go Salvatore Puccio set the pace for Ineos, with Adam Yates and Egan Bernal both near the front and that decision proved important when the race leader Taaramae hit the deck after being caught too far back. He was relatively unhurt and limped home to retain his lead as up ahead the sprinters began to battle it out for the fin.

Jasper Philipsen found himself boxed in, while Michael Matthews once again showed consistency but not enough power to take fifth behind Alberto Dainese. Philipsen eventually finished ninth but there was no denying Jakobsen and his memorable win. The victory also puts the Dutchman into the green jersey with a 32 point lead over Philipsen.