Fabio Jakobsen became the third different winner in just as many stages at the Gree Tour of Guangxi as he claimed the bunch gallop in Nanning following the path of Dylan Groenewegen in Beihai and Pascal Ackermann in Qinzhou. The Dutchman took over from his compatriot Groenewegen in the lead of the overall ranking ahead of the queen stage to Nongla Scenic Area.

Jakobsen, 22, scored his sixth victory of the year as a neo pro, making it 72 in total for Quick-Step, the world’s leading team in terms of number of successes. It became a new record for a team managed by Patrick Lefevere. “We’ve been winning the whole year with many different riders”, Jakobsen declared in Nanning. “We’re very happy with our 2018 season. I’m glad to be the rider who breaks the record but we did it as a team.”

Four riders took off from the gun, in three waves: Manuele Boaro (Bahrain-Merida), Nathan van Hooydonck (BMC Racing Team), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) and Owain Doull (Team Sky). They got a gap of two minutes at km 10 but no more in the first half of the race as the teams of the main sprinters, LottoNL-Jumbo, Bora-Hansgrohe and Team Sunweb, stabilized the time difference around 1’45’’ the whole way. After one of the four laps (of 31km each) in and around Nanning, Sütterlin decided to wait for the peloton. The leading trio reached a maximum advantage of 2’15’’ at the half way mark when it started raining.

Boaro, Van Hooydonck and Doull got reined with 7km to go, the Brit being awarded the most active rider price of the day. The rainy conditions made it a very challenging sprint on the longest finishing line of the whole cycling season.

“It seems like the last kilometre started 9km from the finish on this long straight line”, Jakobsen commented. “I just followed the team because those past two days, I was wrong to do it on my own. I think I was a bit nervous. My team-mate Davide Martinelli told me he believed in me. He put me on the wheel of the three other sprinters, Ackermann, Walscheid and Groenewegen. I managed to pass them. I know I’m fast but to beat them is amazing. I’m still in my first year as a pro. Sometimes I get nervous. For the future, I should remember how it unfolded today with the team working at perfection for me. Cycling is all about winning.”

Jakobsen added that he doesn’t expect to retain the overall lead in the Gree Tour of Guangxi after stage 4 to Nongla Scenic Area, stating that the uphill finish suits his team-mates Philippe Gilbert and Dries Devenyns more than him. Team Sky’s Gianni Moscon is tipped by many as the hot favourite for the queen stage.