Fabio Jacobsen finished last on stage 5 to Laruns, 33:50 behind new race leader Jai Hindley, who won the race.

Jacobsen crashed violently on stage 4 while riding at speed in a sprint competition on the Nogaro circuit. Fortunately, there were no broken bones or serious injuries, but he suffered a lot of welt on the road surface.

His blue and white jersey and many bandages, covered in a mixture of blood and sweat, confirmed the harrowing odyssey he survived on the first stage in the Pyrenees.

"I made it through, which I think is a good thing," Jacobsen said of his ride to survival as he sat on the steps of the team bus.

"The beginning was tough. The start was super fast and my legs exploded, but I was able to get back into the peloton. I found a good group with Mark Cavendish and caught Caleb Yuan a little later.

The sprinters and their faithful lead-out men formed a gruppetto (group) behind the main group and brought the sprinters back 9 minutes before the time limit of 42:43. Michael Molkoff, Tim De Klerk, Dries Devenyns, and Yves Lampert escorted Jacobsen, while riders Astana Kazakstan and Lot Dostny helped Cavendish and Ewan.

"After the big crash, everything went stiff and I didn't want to turn the pedals. I did everything I could to stay with the peloton, but I had to relax on the climbs and undulations. I couldn't come back until the race settled down," Jacobsen explained.

"Then I stuck with it as long as I could until the steep part of the first long climb. I was able to get into a pretty good group with Cavendish, Moscon, Bol, and of course my teammates. I was able to ride with that group at a reasonably good pace. It worked out well."

"My time in the saddle was painless. You never know how your body is going to react after a fall like that. It was quite a shock. It takes a lot of energy to keep running while being in pain.

Despite Jacobsen's pain and suffering, he remains optimistic and determined to keep going even as he faces the second stage of the Col du Tourmalet and Cautaret-Cambasque in the Pyrenees on Thursday.

"He's a warrior," his former teammate Iljo Keisse, now director sportif of Sourdal-Quick Step, told Wielerfritz.

"He will want to keep riding and achieve something in the second half of the Tour. These are tough days, but let's hope it works out."

"He still had to do a lot of racing, but hopefully his wounds and bruises are healing," Jacobsen said.