Team dsm-firmenich PostNL sprint to strong 5th place with Fabio Jakobsen into Saint Vulbas

Strong teamwork and building on the result from the opening sprint, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL sprinted to fifth place on stage five at the Tour de France on Wednesday afternoon with Fabio Jakobsen.
With a challenging day in the mountains behind them, the Tour de France peloton took on some flatter terrain once more with a 177 kilometre long route from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint Vulbas awaiting them on day five of the competition. The category four climb of Côte de Lhuis would be the main obstacle of the day but with it cresting at more than 30 kilometres to go, a sprint finale was most likely. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL once again set out their stall of riding well as a unit and conserving energy, before looking to set up fast finisher Fabio Jakobsen for the sprint.
The two-rider breakaway was always controlled by the peloton and they were reeled back in with around 30 kilometres to go, where the team’s climbing group of Romain Bardet, Warren Barguil, Oscar Onley and Frank van den Broek did a good job of maintaining the team’s position at the head of the race on narrow and wet roads. Seeing the sprint group through the five kilometre mark, Jakobsen then followed John Degenkolb, Nils Eekhoff and Bram Welten who guided him through what was a very hectic and chaotic finale, where the clichéd “washing machine effect” was on full display. Dropped off with around 500 metres to go, Jakobsen kept his cool and used his experience, spotting a gap to launch his sprint on the right side of the road when things opened up. Producing a good kick and finishing fast, coming past several other riders, it was enough for him to take a strong fifth place at the line.
Speaking after the stage a pleased Jakobsen expressed: “We worked really well as a team today, everyone was involved. The four climbers we have here all did a good job and positioned our sprint group really well going into the last five kilometres and kept us safe. Then I just followed John, Nils and Bram until the last 500 metres. I launched my sprint on the inside and I think it was okay, but not good enough to win. Cavendish went on the left and had a bit of a head start but he held the speed really well. It’s nice to see him get the record. I think we can take more confidence from today again and build on that for the next sprints.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston added: “The guys did a really good job. They were all totally behind the plan and we were really in position from a long way out, which was good because of the rain and narrow roads. The guys then brought Fabio into the bubble to go for it and he made a nice sprint; showing some skill and speed in the final 300 metres to take fifth place. We aim to keep this progression up in the next sprints and keep working well together like this.”