Fabio Jakobsen wins Scheldeprijs as Level Crossing causes Chaos

Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Floors) took the victory in the 2018 Scheldeprijs after many of the pre-race favourites were disqualified after they ignored a railroad crossing

The drama began early at Scheldeprijs as crosswinds broke up the peloton and a group of favorites went over a railroad crossing as the crossing arms were lowering. This led the race jury disqualifying 35 riders including Arnaud Démare and Dylan Groenewegen.

As part of the peloton came to a train crossing the barriers began to come down. The group had to stop but some riders sneaked through ignoring rules the UCI put in place to prevent riders from putting themselves in danger as a result of the race interruption

Despite protests from the riders, they were all disqualified from the race. Arnaud Démare and Dylan Groenewegen were two of the most notable riders pulled from the race.

“Apart from risking the penalty for such an offence as provided by law, offending riders shall be eliminated from the competition by the commissaries; besides, the disciplinary commision may impose a suspension of up to one month as well as a fine of CHF 200 to 5,000,” the UCI rule books reads.

VIDEO: Here the moment they skip the railroad crossing

#SP18 #Scheldeprijs
Here the moment they skip the railroad crossing. pic.twitter.com/EPctA48av3

— Brain on Wheels ?? (@BrainOnWheels) April 4, 2018

“I think it’s because we start winning and everyone starts to believe in it. We always go for one guy full gas and that is the strength of the pack. When one person starts winning, we all want to start winning. It’s amazing to be in ‘the wolfpack’,” Jakobsen said.

VIDEO: 2018 Scheldeprijs Highlights

2018 Scheldeprijs Top 10

1 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 4:23:51 
2 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe   
3 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Sky   
4 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal   
5 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept Club   
6 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb   
7 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert   
8 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise   
9 Bram Welten (Ned) Fortuneo-Oscaro   
10 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin