A cerebral contusion, a fractured skull, a broken nose and mouth, thirty stitches in his face, a paralysis of the vocal cord, but also an enormous fright that he will not soon forget. Fabio Jakobsen still bears the physical and mental consequences of his terrible fall which occurred at the end of the first stage of the Tour of Poland, on August 5, while Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) made a gap in his sprint, suddenly pushing Jacobsen in security barriers.
While Patrick Lefevere, his general manager at Deceuninck-Quick Step, had given his news a few weeks later, the 24-year-old Dutch sprinter returned to this event which could have been tragic, and the few seconds which followed his fall. . “My teammate Florian Sénéchal rushed to my aid. There was blood everywhere. The spectators did nothing, they were too shocked by what they saw. Florian noticed that I was suffocating in my own blood and saw the panic in my eyes, recalls Jakobsen, interviewed this Thursday by Dutch media AD. In a reflex, he lifted my head a little so that blood could flow from my mouth and throat. After that, I calmed down. “
“These were the longest days of my life”
There followed a long period of time in the hospital, where the Dutchman suffered as never in his life. “I got all kinds of medicine that made me drowsy. My feet went numb, then my pelvis, my hands, my shoulders… and finally I dozed off. Each time, I thought I was. was going to die. It happened fifty, maybe a hundred times. It was a real fear of dying. It made me panic, fight to survive, fight to breathe | …]Those were the days the longest in my life. I had never suffered like this before. “
Finally out of the woods, although plunged for a time into an artificial coma due to the severity of his injuries, Jakobsen struggles every day to become a professional runner again. “I have now reached a stage where I ride for two hours every other day […] The doctors and my trainer tell me not to rush things, to take it step by step, he continues. Personally, I hope to be ready in March, but if I’m realistic, it will probably be more in August. Wouldn’t it be great if I could run again exactly one year after the accident? “
Miraculously cycling, the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider has come a long way, and still resents Dylan Groenewegen, who was suspended until May 7, 2021 following his senseless gesture. “I’m not open-minded enough to say he’s not to blame. […] I find it hard to understand why he did it. Didn’t he see me? Did he take too many risks? Did he want to win at all costs? He knew the risks. He should have thought about the consequences. We are human beings, not animals. Cycling is a sport, not a limitless war. “
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