On Sunday, 14th August, Fabio Jakobsen (Netherlands) had yet another achievement. He defeated Arnaud Démare (France) and Tim Merlier (Belgium) in Munich to be crowned the champion at the European Championships in the elite men’s road race.
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Although the race was 208 km long, every minute created new suspense. The race’s favorite Jakobsen and Merlier fought tooth and nail to land the first spot at the podium. Merlier launched an early attack but it was not fruitful as Jakobsen zoomed past him and left to bite the dust. His last sprint was planned perfectly and timely to pave his way for victory.
On the other hand, Arnaud Démare did give Jakobsen a tough match as he tried to catch on to the rider. But even he was unable to get a hold of the rider. Danny van Poppel, Jakobsen’s teammate did prove to be quite helpful for Jakobsen. He himself finished fourth and was quite happy with it. Even Jakobsen acknowledged the role of Danny in his achievement as he said:
You know, we don’t race together much as teammates but I think we made a good plan
He continued to praise his teammate:
Everyone put in his work and did a huge effort to put me in a good position here. The last man today, Danny van Poppel, I think he did an incredible job, putting me at speed on the wheel of Tim Merlier
Merlier was perceived as the biggest threat by Jakobsen, as both of them are top sprinters. Nevertheless, this counts as the twelfth win of the season for the champion following his amazing win at the Tour de France opening.
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Results
| POS | RIDER | TEAM | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio Jakobsen | Netherlands | 04:38:49 |
| 2 | Arnaud Démare | France | + 00 |
| 3 | Tim Merlier | Belgium | + 00 |
4 | Danny van Poppel | Netherlands | + 00 |
| 5 | Sam Bennett | Ireland | + 00 |
| 6 | Luka Mezgec | Slovenia | + 00 |
| 7 | Elia Viviani | Italy | + 00 |
| 8 | Alexander Kristoff | Norway | + 00 |
| 9 | Jon Aberasturi | Spain | + 00 |
| 10 | Mads Pedersen | Denmark | + 00 |
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Featured Image Via YouTube/ Cycling Pro Net
