Fabio Jakobsen gave himself a great 25th birthday present, winning Stage 16 of the 2021 Vuelta a Espana in Santa Cruz de Bezana, a small Cantabrian town that welcomed the race for the first time. Clad in the green jersey he has sported since the opening week of the race, the “Hurricane of Heukelum” made it a hat-trick of victories at the final Grand Tour of the season.
The 180km stage wasn’t an easy one, a series of unclassified climbs testing the sprinters. On the hardest of these, with around 50 kilometers to go, several teams piled on the pressure, splitting the peloton, among those dropped being also Fabio. As soon as this happened, the Wolfpack rallied around its leader and clawed back time, helping Jakobsen bridge across inside the final 40 kilometers.
Deceuninck – Quick-Step remained at the front, bringing back the five escapees, and guiding its sprinter through the nervous final part of the stage, where also the GC teams made an appearance due to a brief threat of echelons. Coming out of the last corner, the Dutchman combined physical presence, positioning, timing and speed, and emerged again as the fastest thanks to another immensely huge sprint that gave absolutely no chance to his opponents.
“This victory belongs to my teammates. They brought me back when I was dropped, kept me at the front, worked hard to reel in the breakaway and made sure I was where I needed to be for the final part of the stage, which featured several tricky parts. I am happy I could gift them the victory on this beautiful day”, said an emotional Fabio, the first rider in 15 years to win at La Vuelta on his birthday.
“This time last year, I had no idea if I was going to be a bike rider again. I am extremely grateful to be here, able to fight for victory. I love the adrenaline this sport gives you, I love winning, and I love being part of the peloton and of this great team. To get my third stage here on my birthday, with the green jersey on my shoulders, it’s a dream. I’m over the moon, I really couldn’t be happier”, added Jakobsen after his fifth Grand Tour stage victory.
Meeus Second After Crash
Jordi Meeus, who was involved in a crash earlier in the race, was nevertheless still able to mix things up in the bunch sprint, ultimately racing to a strong second place, his best result at the Vuelta so far.
“It was a tricky final today, but the team really did a perfect job. We lost each other a bit over the last kilometre, but I still managed to stay up front. I was in a good position but I have to be honest, Jakobsen was just simply faster today. I think I can really mix things up in the sprints now. But the Vuelta is my first Grand Tour and I’m just lacking a bit of that final speed against riders who have some more experience. But this strong result definitely gives me more confidence for the near future.”
Day 7 in Red for Eiking
Norwegian race leader Odd ChristianEiking reached the finish without issues and will take the start of the seventeenth stage in his red jersey for the seventh day in a row.
Wednesday’s stage will be a decisive day for the general classification in the heights of Asturia, with a mountain top finish on Lagos de Cavadonga (12.5 km at 7%), preceded by a double ascension of the Collada Llomena (7.6 km at 9,1%).
“Even though on paper there was no big danger of losing the jersey today, I admit that I didn’t feel great after the rest day,” said Eiking after the stage. “So this stage was a perfect opportunity to warm up the engine before tomorrow’s hard stage. I knew the Lagos de Cavadonga and I’m convinced that the stage will be decisive for the general classification. It will certainly be a hard race from the start. I’m looking forward to it!”
2021 Vuelta a Espana: Stage 16 Brief Results
- Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) at 4h08′ 57”
- Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe) s.t.
- Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
- Michael Matthews (Team Bike Exchange) s.t.
- Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 16:
- Christian Odd Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty) 59h57’50 ”
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) +54 ”
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) + 1’36 ”
- Enric Mas (Movistar) at 2’11”
- Miguel Anton Lopes (Movistar) at 3’04”
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