Fabio Jakobsen Having Reconstructive Surgery After Horrific Crash
UPDATE: On October 1, almost two months after his crash, Fabio Jakobsen tweeted an update of his recovery since his crash at the Tour of Poland. The Dutch cyclist, who suffered serious injuries to his head and face, is set to undergo surgery to reconstruct his upper and lower jaw on October 8. After that heals, Jakobsen will have another surgery to place teeth implants in the reconstructed jaw.
Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen, 23, of team Deceuninck-Quickstep, is in a medically induced coma after being involved in a violent crash on Wednesday at the Tour of Poland.
During the final sprint of Stage 1 in Katowice, Poland, Dylan Groenewegen, of team Jumbo-Visma, deviated from his line and caused Jakobsen to collide with a barrier at high speed.
According to a press release Wednesday from the Deceuninck-Quickstep team, Jakobsen, who was placed in a medically induced coma after the crash, was in serious but stable condition, and tests “didn’t reveal brain or spinal injury.” In an update, the team shared that he underwent facial surgery overnight, and he remains in a coma, but doctors will attempt to wake him up sometime on Thursday.
Numerous other riders at the front of the pack and bystanders were also involved in the crash; one race official suffered a head injury, but is now in stable condition, according to race organizers.
Jakobsen was given the stage win, and Groenewegen—who incurred a broken collarbone during the crash and underwent surgery, per a press release from his team—was disqualified from the race and faces pending sanctions from the UCI’s disciplinary commission.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) strongly condemns the dangerous behaviour of rider Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma), who sent Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) into the barriers a few metres from the finish, causing a collective crash at the end of the first stage of the Tour de Pologne,” the UCI stated in a press release.
“I find it terrible what happened yesterday. I can’t find the words to describe how sorry I am for Fabio and the others who crashed or were involved. What matters most now is Fabio’s health. I think about him all the time,” Groenewegen said, according to the team’s press release.
The cycling community is not only condemning Groenewegen’s actions in the final sprint, but also calling into question the race’s barrier setup and some of the sport’s rules and safety protocols, which former pros say amplified the seriousness of the crash (if not encouraged and led to it). The UCI did not respond to Bicycling’s inquiry concerning safer barriers and possible revisions to race rules and safety protocol at the time of publishing.
Former pro cyclist Tom Danielson posted a 10-minute video on Instagram, strongly denouncing Groenewegen’s actions, and what he sees as a severe and dangerous lack of leadership across the sport from the UCI, cycling federations, and even team management with their lack of proper safety training. He called into question the race’s finish-line design and barrier setup, the sport’s rules surrounding the finish-line sprint, insufficient safety protocol, and more.
“There’s not one sprinter that signs up for cycling to risk their life to crash, or to be part of that ... No one wants to sprint down a hill at 70 miles an hour, at 60 miles an hour, in a narrow chute,” Danielson said in his video. “These riders have tremendous skills, and I think those tremendous skills are taken advantage of. They have been for years. ... No one even understands why there’s 200 people at the back of this crashing, kamikaze airplane that ran into some bullshit barrier on the side of the road.”
Another former pro cyclist and sprint specialist, Robbie McEwen, criticized Groenewegen’s actions in a Tweet, and laid blame on the UCI.
The move by Groenewegen was one that has been made by sprinters many times. A correct DQ. But the barrier set-up @Tour_de_Pologne was not up to standard, nor are safety standards @UCI_cycling. How about final km safety standards instead of measuring sock height?
— Robbie McEwen AM (@mcewenrobbie) August 6, 2020
Major crashes aren’t new to the Tour of Poland. Jakobsen’s crash comes exactly one year after the Tour of Poland crash that claimed the life of Belgian cyclist Bjorg Lambrecht, who “crashed into a concrete barrier during the third stage.”
This story will be updated as we learn more about Jakobsen’s condition.
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