“I hope everyone involved in the fall is okay, our team also had two more involved in the fall: Marc Hirschi and Vegard Laengn. Now I’m waiting to go to the bus and hope to receive good news,” he told RTV Slovenia after the 2nd stage Tadej Pogačarwho explained what happened to him in the last three kilometers, when he was already safe from the point of view of the final time.

At the entanglement of three cyclists Ineos Grenadiers 2.5 km before the finish line, there was a massive crash and a traffic jam on the narrow road. Among the fallen, according to the footage, he landed hard on the ground Daniel Martinezone of the captains grenadiers. If the Colombian took it away with scratches, he still escaped the fallen cyclists among the last Primož Roglič.

Concerned about the health of two assistants

In contrast, the two-time winner of the Tour de France was caught in an accident. “In the last three kilometers, there were complications, I retreated into the fence myself. I hit it with my knuckles, it still hurts a little bit. However, I reached the finish line somehow safely with two defects,” Pogačar explained the complications in the final section of the race, where in the sprint stages the gap is canceled in the event of a breakdown or fall and the time of the best of the main group is recognized.

From the UAE Emirates team, the Swiss were on the ground Marc Hirschi and Norwegian Vegard Staeke LaengenPogačar’s key assistant for next week’s flat and rugged stages, before turning to the Alps. Emirates now they are waiting for the doctors’ report on the consequences of the falls.

Pushed away by assistant Jumbo Visma

However, Pogačar had another close encounter during the race itself, when one of the team assistants pushed him away with his hand Jumbo Vismabecause the Slovenian champion squeezed into the train of the Dutch team.

WvA finally in yellow

On the other hand, the main rivals celebrated taking over the leader’s shirt. Wout van Aert finished second in a row overall, one second ahead of Friday’s winner Yves Lampaert.

“When I crossed the finish line, I thought, well, not second again. But if you’re always second, you can wear such a nice shirt,” laughed van Aert, who has become a real specialist in collecting second places, especially in major competitions such as the Olympics (he won a silver medal in both the road race and time trial in Tokyo last year) and the World Time Trial Championships (2020).

“I feel comfortable in the new shirt. Finally, even though it’s only my fourth time racing in the Tour. But I’ve been chasing it for the last few years,” the 27-year-old Belgian admitted that he really wanted to wear the yellow jersey of the leader in the biggest cycling race in the world.

In the lead until at least stage 7?

At the same time, van Aert also officially took over the green jersey by points, here his advantage is even smaller, as he only has one point more than Saturday’s winner Fabio Jakobsen (60:59 points). If it is very likely that the Dutch sprinter of the QuickStep AlphaVinyl team will be temporarily stripped of his green shirt on Sunday in the 3rd sprint stage, van Aert will not give up the leader’s shirt.

“It’s the yellow jersey of the Tour de France, which you have to defend as long as possible, that’s definitely my plan,” confirmed the Belgian superstar and the most versatile rider in the peloton. Even if his big goal is the green jersey in Paris, now with his diversity he has the chance to keep the yellow jersey at least until the 7th stage and the final climb to La Planche des Belles Filles. The first high-mountain stage finish awaits the cyclists on Friday.

First series “Classic” in France

With this, of course, Roglic’s Jumbo Visma team takes on the responsibility of controlling the stages, keeping the breakaway groups at a suitable distance, and at the same time they have to put van Aert in a position to collect as many points as possible at the flying finishes and at the end of the stages. It’s no secret that after moving the big bow to France, it’s time for a series of stages to the taste of van Aert and his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel.

On Tuesday to Calais with the threat of wind and a bunch of Ardennes hills, on Wednesday the infamous cubes of Roubaix follow, and to top it off on Thursday there is the longest stage of this year’s race through the real Ardennes with a start in Belgium in Binch and a finish on steep, short slopes in to Longwy.

Two years since the near-fatal accident

But the story of the day is still the stage winner Fabio Jakobsen. In the opening stage of the Tour of Poland 2020, in the downhill sprint in Katowice, he was the victim of an incorrect maneuver by Dylan Greonewegen, which sent him flying into the fence and into the finish structure. The injuries were horrific and life-threatening, they even resuscitated him in the finish area, it later turned out that his teammate Florian Senechel had performed the correct first aid. At the local hospital, accustomed to mining accidents, they then excelled with quick intervention and appropriate operations and care.

At the time, the not-yet-23-year-old Dutchman had just established himself as one of the fastest cyclists in the world, but in August two years ago, his close friends, team mates and the cycling and sports world trembled for his life. After weeks in a coma, he was returned to his homeland, followed by procedures in the Netherlands and occasional messages of encouragement that Jakobsen would recover.

First the return, then quickly the first victories

After winter operations, Jakobsen has already announced that he will try to return to competitions. He raced for the first time on April 4 last year at the Race around Turkey, where he got used to the racing speed and riding in the peloton. At the end of July last year, he already celebrated his first two victories in the sprint at the Wallonia Race. At the Race of Spain, he then won three stages in style and won the green jersey by points. There was no longer any doubt: despite Mark Cavendish, the first sprinter of the Belgian team is Dutch.

Realized a childhood dream

With the promise that he will make his debut at the Tour de France, in the 2022 season, from the Tour of Valencia to the Tour of Belgium, he strung together as many as 10 victories, as many as only Tadej Pogačar has collected among the world’s elite this year. Now Fabio Jakobsen, whose parents named him after the tragically deceased Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli, grabbed his first sprint opportunity and won.

“I didn’t notice what was happening behind me because the team put me in a good position after the end of the bridge. On the last straight I was able to stay behind Moerkoev and then I stayed on Van Aert’s bike. Sagan and I hit a bit before the finish, but luckily we stayed on bike, but then I was able to pass the other two in the last 150m. It sounds easy when I say it, but it’s not. We work hard for this, we race for these moments. I’ve dreamed of winning the Tour de France for 15 years, since I started cycling” the hero of the second day of the start of the Danish Tour 2022 described the unfolding of the sprint.

You are invited to view the analysis After the stage with Jani Brakovič and Luka Pibernik

A recording of the entire live broadcast of the 2nd stage with reports from Denmark