After one of the toughest starts to the Tour de France in recent memory, Fabio Jakobsen has abandoned the race on its 12th stage. 

Jakobsen was aiming to improve on the promising fifth and seventh places in the sprints that Team dsm-firmenich PostNL took in the opening week, but the days since the rest day have been especially challenging for the Dutch sprinter. Wednesday's stage 11 saw a fierce battle over hilly and mountainous terrain where Jakobsen fought through the stage behind the grupetto, but he was helped out by his teammates to finish within the time limit. However, in the opening kilometres of today’s stage, it became clear that Jakobsen could no longer continue and he soon stepped off the bike to abandon the Tour de France.

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