After a serious fall on the 2020 Tour of Poland, Fabio Jakobsen fought for his life. Now he is one of the favorites in the mass sprints of the Tour de France.
The traces of that August 5, 2020 can be clearly seen: numerous scars run through Fabio Jakobsen’s face, as if someone had carved a wild pattern through the face of the Dutch professional cyclist. The scars are the visible sign that Jakobsen narrowly escaped death and that it is almost a miracle that the 25-year-old is now making his Tour de France debut.
At 90 kilometers per hour into the gang
“I think most professional cyclists experience something bad during their career. There’s always a period of rehabilitation, whether it’s after a fall or an illness. And I’ve had my fair share of that.”, Jakobsen said before the Grand Départ of the tour in Copenhagen. Just as if his racing accident had been an ordinary occurrence at the time.
The images of the fall, to which Jakobsen owes the scars on his face, are among the worst that cycling has ever sent out into the world. On the first stage of the Tour of Poland, he crashed into the barriers on the downhill home straight in Katowice at a speed of around 90 kilometers per hour because his compatriot Dylan Groenewegen had left the ideal line during the sprint.
While he was still in the target area, the doctors fought for his life for a long time. In the hospital, he was later placed in an induced coma after a five-hour operation. Numerous other surgeries followed to restore his face and replace the ten teeth he had lost. It seemed unthinkable that he would ever compete in a professional bike race again.
“Pain in the last 500 meters is nothing”
Jakobsen claimed that he himself never doubted that he would come back and win races when he made an impressive return last year, winning three stages in the Tour of Spain, among other things. being “Engine” had remained intact.
But the pure physique is one thing, the other is the psyche. Sprinters like Jakobsen shouldn’t be thinking when they’re fighting in a pack at top speed for the best position for the final sprint. He who withdraws out of fear cannot win. He’s not afraid, says Jakobsen. The fall changed him as a person and his pain threshold is now higher. “The pain in the last 500 meters is nothing compared to the pain I experienced in the intensive care unit.”
Cavendish must stay at home
At the Tour de France, Jakobsen is now valid alongside the Australian caleb ewan to the top favorites in the sprints. Jakobsen has won 18 sprints since his return in April last year. In the spring, Jakoben was the most successful sprinter. That’s why his team Quickstep-Alpha Vinyl even the British Mark Cavendish left at home, who dominated the sprints at the Tour last year and has already had a total of 34 stage wins during his career.
Jakobsen is now aiming for his first stage win in the Tour de France. For the first time he has the chance to prove himself on the biggest stage in cycling. “When I started cycling, it wasn’t about getting anywhere, it was about winning”says Jacobsen. “In the next three weeks we will find out if I can win on the Tour as well.”
The sprinters will probably have their first chance on Saturday (July 2nd, 2022) on the second stage from Roskilde to Nyborg. On the 202.2 kilometers it goes over many narrow roads along the Danish coast. The wind could play a crucial role. So it will be hectic to walk. And as always on the first stages of the Tour de France, the risk of falling will be high.
Security issues remain an issue
Jakobsen’s accident in Poland fueled a safety debate within cycling at the time. Even before the dramatic accident, the home straight in Katowice was considered too dangerous by many professional cyclists. The world cycling association UCI then issued new safety regulations. But many of the measures mainly affected the driving style of the pros, while the race organizers were hardly held accountable.
In the run-up to the Tour de France, there were again critical voices from the drivers, for whom the route of the first stages was designed too much for spectacle. The German professional cyclist Simon Geschke decided that the Tour de France was not an action film.
Fabio Jakobsen does not want to get involved in this debate. He tries to focus entirely on the upcoming sprints, he has to ignore everything else. “A dream becomes true”, he said in Copenhagen. It’s a dream that seemed completely out of the question two years ago.