Fabio Jakobsen: Dutch rider ‘fighting for his life’ after horrific crash on stage one at Tour of Poland

Dylan Groenewegen has been criticised for apparently causing the incident

A rescue helicopter attends the incident in Katowice (Reuters)

The Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen was in a medically induced coma on Wednesday night after a horrific crash at the end of stage one at the Tour of Poland.

Jakobsen, who rides for Deceuninck-Quick Step team, was jostling for position with his compatriot Dylan Groenewegen in the final metres, but the pair came together and Jakobsen crashed into the barriers and collided with a race official.

“His condition is very bad,” said race doctor Barbara Jerschina. “We are dealing with a serious cranioencephalic traumatism. His heart is working well, but he’s fighting for his life. Let’s cross our fingers for him. He has lost a lot of blood.”

A statement by his team later read: “Fabio Jakobsen’s situation is serious but at the moment he is stable. Diagnostic test didn’t reveal brain or spinal injury, but because of the gravity of his multiple injuries he is still kept in a comatose condition and has to remain closely monitored in the following days at the Wojewódzki Szpital in Katowice.”

The sport’s governing body, the UCI, issued a statement strongly condemning what it called the “dangerous behaviour” of Groenewegen, accusing him of causing the crash and disqualifying him from the race.

“The UCI, which considers the behaviour unacceptable, immediately referred the matter to the Disciplinary Commission to request the imposition of sanctions commensurate with the seriousness of the facts,” the UCI said.

Czeslaw Lang, the race director, also criticised Groenewegen for the incident.

“The competitor who caused this accident drove very incorrectly, because while riding in the middle, seeing that someone was coming out on the right, he started to pull down to the right,” Lang told state-controlled TVP.

The organisers were not immediately available for a comment.

The 77th Tour of Poland was meant to be held in July but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The race began on Wednesday, with the 196 km first stage taking the riders from the Slaski Stadium in Chorzow, southern Poland to Katowice. The race was reduced to five stages from the seven originally planned in order to leave room on the calendar for other re-scheduled races.

Additional reporting by Reuters