Fabio Jakobsen celebrated "an amazing day" after sprinting to victory in stage two of the Tour de France.

The second of three stages to be held in Denmark proved to be a frantic one, but ultimately pre-race favourite Jakobsen took his first individual Tour de France triumph.

Preferred to Mark Cavendish and Julian Alaphilippe for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team, Jakobsen repaid the team's faith with a perfectly executed sprint in Nyborg, following a 202.5-kilometre ride from Roskilde.

Saturday's route included an 18km crossing of the Great Belt Bridge, on which heavy winds caused havoc, with a huge crash halting the progress of two-time reigning champion Tadej Pogacar and world champion time trialist Filippo Ganna among others.

Fortunately for the General Classification hopefuls, the crash occurred within the final 3,000 metres, meaning no rider lost time, and the focus was able to switch to the sprinters at the front.

Wout van Aert and Danish hope Mads Pedersen looked well set coming out of the bunch, but Michael Morkov's exceptional lead-out ability proved crucial for Quick-Step, as Jakobsen was able to launch an attack in the final 150m, and ultimately crossed the line first by a matter of inches.

For the 25-year-old, who suffered horrendous injuries in a crash at the Tour de Pologne less than two years ago, it marked a remarkable success story.

"For me it was a long process, step by step," said the Dutchman. "A lot of people helped me along the way – this is to pay them back so they can see that it was not for nothing.

"I'm happy that I still enjoy riding the bike, racing, and luckily I can win. It was an amazing day.

"The team kept me in a good position when we exited from the bridge. I could stay behind Morkov, he dropped me off in the wheel of Van Aert. I was next to [Peter] Sagan, we kind of touched each other but luckily we stayed alright, then it was a final stretch where I could launch.

"It sounds easy, but for sure the legs were in pain. But this is what we train for, this is why we race. And a stage at the Tour de France, I've been dreaming about that for 15 years. It's the biggest race. As a sprinter you want to make it here and to win."

Van Aert takes yellow

While he was pipped to the post by Jakobsen, Van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) leads the GC, taking a one-second advantage over overnight leader Yves Lampaert, meaning he will wear yellow on Sunday's route from Vejle to Sonderborg.

Van Aert also leads the points classification after his efforts in the sprint, ending Quick-Step's run of 34 successive Tour de France stages in which one of their riders has held the green jersey.

STAGE RESULT 

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 4:34:34
2. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) same time
3. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) same time
4. Danny van Poppel (BORA-Hansgrohe) same time
5. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) same time

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) 4:49:50
2. Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +0.01
3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +0.08

Points Classification

1. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) 60
2. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 59
3. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 30

King of the Mountains

1. Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education–EasyPost) 3