The 2022 season is still in its early stages, but the sight of Fabio Jacobsen celebrating his finish is becoming more familiar with each passing race. His latest victory was his sixth in seven sprint wins and just 14 days of racing.
Jacobsen was there with several of his Quick-Step Alfavinir teammates and, of course, the Jumbo-Visma team that tore the script apart on the first stage when a gusty wind broke up the peloton with 70km to go. He continued to lead the pack until the finish.
Another chaotic race ensued, but Jacobsen took the lead ahead of Wout Van Alst and Christophe Laporte, who had impressed 24 hours earlier.
Just a week earlier, before his victory in Coure Brussel-Coulomb, Jacobsen said that team boss Patrick Lefebvre compared the season to a meal course. After the victory in Orleans, Jacobsen referred to this comment.
"These are the races I want to win, especially here in Paris-Nice. Lefebvre said, "The last race was an aperitif. This is great.
"First there is wind and sprints, then we go to the mountains. Yesterday was too hard, so I focused on today."
While others who are also competing in Paris-Nice, such as Jasper Philipsen, Caleb Yuan, and Mark Cavendish, have started the season strongly, there is no doubt that Jacobsen is the fastest man in the field this season.
Of course, he has not done it all by himself. In Monday's race, classic experts like Florian Senechal, Yves Lampert, and Zdenek Stival, all of whom excel in crosswinds, were at the front with him when the race split.
And on the final run to the finish, they worked for him. It was a day that concentrated almost perfectly on the crosswinds and sprinting mastery that the Belgian team excels at.
"Here at Quick Step, we like to race in crosswinds," Jacobsen said. 'There were four of us at the front. I'm glad I made it to the end. The Jumbo Visma racers were strong again.
"But like I said before, we like the wind and we were very motivated. My legs hurt because I was going at full speed, 60 km/h, but I was able to finish the race and win."
"Lampert made some important turns at the front for me. Styby took over and maybe Seneschal waited a little too long. So [Laporte and Van Aert] went first, but in the end I was always behind them and out of the wind. I sprinted behind Van Aert and passed him on the uphill at the end.
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