Jakobsen apologizes for statements about Groenewegen stage victory | cycling

sport">“That’s just the achievement,” Jakobsen told the on Tuesday NOS† “Of course I understand that he and his family have also been through a very difficult time. I have every respect for that. Sunday I was a little frustrated. My apologies for that.”

sport">Groenewegen caused a fall in the Tour of Poland two years ago, with Jakobsen as the biggest victim. The sprinter was given a nine-month suspension.

sport">Jakobsen won the second stage of this Tour on Saturday. He hoped to fight for the win again, but saw that Wout van Aert was 8 seconds ahead of the pack. “I was good on the climb, I surprised myself a bit there,” says Jakobsen. “Jumbo did the perfect team tactics. They have a very strong man in Wout. They’re tearing things apart. Van Aert eventually stays away. Perfectly executed by the guys from the supermarket.”

Groenewegen saw Van Aert fly up

sport">For a long time, Groenewegen had hoped that in Calais, at the end of the fourth stage of the Tour de France, a large peloton would sprint for the stage victory. But the climb 10 kilometers before the finish was fatal for the Amsterdammer, and ultimately the entire peloton. “The peloton broke and Wout van Aert was clearly too strong,” he said about his former teammate at Jumbo-Visma.

sport">“Our team was good enough, but my legs weren’t”, concluded Groenewegen, who had given his BikeExchange-Jayco team the first success in this Tour on Sunday. “It could have been another bunch sprint today, but Wout really flew up on that climb. I felt empty at that moment, but there is no shame in losing it to Wout. He was too strong for everyone,” the sprinter told Eurosport.

sport">On Wednesday, when a stage with a number of cobblestone sections follows, Groenewegen expects the Belgian in the front again. “But we also have some great guys who can do that, like Michael Matthews. No, it’s not really for me.”

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