Fabio Jacobsen won his first Tour de France sprint stage.

Jakobsen said that he had been knocked off the steering of Wout Van Aert by his Quick-Step Alphavinil teammate and lead-out man Mikhail Morkov, and that he and Peter Sagan touched in the last few hundred meters.

Jacobsen won the sprint race over Van Aert, with Mads Pedersen in third place. Jacobsen said, "This is a race, and I know Peter will stay upright."

"From the top it always looks a little scarier than on the bike," he added.

Jacobsen had a horrific crash at the 2020 Tour of Poland, and the press conference focused on the humiliating story of Jacobsen's near-death recovery." It's a special story, like a fairy tale," he said.

Jacobsen spoke emotionally about other riders who have been seriously injured in the sport. 'I'm grateful to be here,' he said. 'If only I had the chance. There are other examples of riders who don't get a chance to come back, both as people and as motorcycle riders."

A stage win in his Tour de France sprint race debut is an outstanding achievement for any rider, but for Jacobsen, it was a particularly emotional victory, given his recovery and the trauma of his crash. He said, "I'm just grateful and of course happy. 13]

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"So I'm very happy, but I'm still thinking about the other riders here who didn't make it,"

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It was no surprise that Jacobsen spoke about the rivalry between Jacobsen and Mark Cavendish regarding the much-discussed selection.

"Getting back to Cavendish, I think they both belong here," Jacobsen said.

"He's been a great example to me for the last 15 years. He is a legend. Some people could take his position."

Jacobsen felt that Cavendish would have watched the race appreciating Jacobsen and his team's victory, despite the talk of rivalry over the Quick Step sprint spot.

Beyond the selection battle, COVID-19 largely covered the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team during the Tour de France. Jacobsen was optimistic about these COVID-19 cases.

"I think we need to take it one day at a time," he said. Of course, by one day at a time, I don't mean just one day in the race." Of course, one day at a time doesn't mean just one day in the race. I think the first week was a big goal for us."

"We do our best to keep our masks and distance. We know that going to the fence [with the fans and the press] is not the best way to do it. But we want to make sure we stay on the tools for them."

Jacobsen will continue to target sprint stages in the coming weeks, with stage 3 as a strong contender, but he is aware that COVID-19 could derail his Tour campaign.

"COVID is as scary as not making the time limit."