Michael Morkov is, according to many, the best leadout rider in the peloton and together with Fabio Jakobsen they have worked towards countless wins. However, at the
Tour de France the duo is yet to show their traditional firepower together, as Morkov described the chaotic finale to stage three.
"I ended up leading out the Jumbo guys instead of Fabio. I was confident he was in my wheel but he wasn't. The team did an amazing job to line us up in the last 5km. Of course we expected big pressure on the last corner. Fabio lost us a bit, but unfortunately I was sure he was in my wheel so I started to launch the sprint - with him, I thought," Morkov described. After in the second stage struggling to deliver the Dutchman to the head of the peloton, on stage three it was Jakobsen who lost the wheels into the final corner.
Florian Sénéchal and then Michael Morkov kept the speed high as if the green jersey was still in their wheel, unaware of the situation. "I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't check that he was there. I was confident he was in my wheel but I should have checked another time. Then I should have pulled away and hoped Fabio would have a chance to come back," Morkov said. Jakobsen was quite behind in the group and only managed to sprint to fifth, loosing ground on the fight for the green jersey and an opportunity to take a stage win.
"We are very proud of the first two stage wins - that's a dream start. It would of course have been a fairytale to win here and leave Denmark with three. But I'm still disappointed we did not win today," he concluded. Today's stage into Calais will be an opportunity to finally deliver the leadout as is traditional for the Quick-Step duo.