Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen has awoken from a medically-induced coma following a horrific crash in the Tour of Poland and will be able to return home soon, race organisers and doctors said on Friday.
“We have good news
from the hospital in Sosnowiec! @FabioJakobsen is awake now from the coma.
Condition is ‘good’,” the Tour of Poland said on Twitter.
Doctors at the
hospital in southern Poland that is treating the 23-year-old rising star said
they estimated he could leave the hospital in around two weeks’ time.
“The patient is
conscious. He is responding to commands and is breathing unaided. The blood
pressure is normal. We are very happy today,” Pawel Gruenpeter, deputy director
of the hospital, told reporters.
“If he managed to
survive such a big fall, he will surely return to the sport,” he said, in
comments shown on Polish television.
Gruenpeter said
Jakobsen’s brain function was “all in order” and he would now undergo a period
of rehabilitation before his release.
Several other
cyclists and a race official were also hurt in the crash but their injuries
were less serious.
In another incident
on Friday, French cyclist Mickael Delage suffered a heavy fall and was taken to
hospital by helicopter, his team and Polish radio RMF24 said.
“Mickael Delage
sustained a heavy fall on the Tour of Poland and has been taken to hospital. He
is conscious,” Groupama-FDJ said on Twitter.
‘I am thinking about him’
In Wednesday’s
crash, Jakobsen was thrown into and over a barrier at 80 kilometres (50 miles)
an hour on Wednesday as he raced elbow-to-elbow with fellow Dutchman Dylan
Groenewegen in the opening stage of the Tour of Poland in Katowice.
Groenewegen, from
the Jumbo-Visma team, veered suddenly to the right, squeezing his rival of
Deceuninck-Quick Step into the security wall.
Jakobsen
somersaulted over the barriers before colliding with a race official.
Groenewegen went on
to win the stage but was later disqualified with Jakobsen declared the winner.
Jakobsen was left
fighting for his life and underwent a five-hour operation immediately after the
accident after sustaining severe injuries to the face.
Groenewegen on
Thursday apologised saying: “I can’t find the words to describe how sorry I am
for Fabio and the others who fell or were affected.
“I am thinking
about him all the time,” he wrote.
Katowice
prosecutors have opened an investigation into the accident and have already
interviewed three witnesses.
Police have also
gathered records of the crash, along with the bikes of the injured riders.
‘Very dirty move’
The incident came a
year to the day after the death of 22-year-old Belgian sprinter Bjorg
Lambrecht, who died after falling and hitting a concrete structure on the 2019
Tour of Poland.
Patrick Lefevere,
general manager of the Deceuninck-Quick Step team, has called the incident a “criminal
act” and “a very dirty move from Groenewegen”.
Governing body UCI
also said it “strongly condemns the dangerous behaviour of Dylan Groenewegen”
and has referred the incident to a disciplinary panel.
The drama came at
the end of the first stage, raced over 198km from Chorzow to Katowice in
southern Poland.
Jakobsen is a
rising star of the sprint in the peloton who made his name in 2019 with two
stage wins on the Vuelta a Espana, one of the sport’s three Grand Tours.
Having turned
professional in 2018 with Quick-Step, Jakobsen donned the Dutch champion’s
jersey in June last year.
In last year’s Tour
of Poland he was third on the opening stage.
Groenewegen, 27, is
a four-time stage winner on the Tour de France, including the final stage in
2017 on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
On Thursday, world
champion Mads Pedersen won the second stage over 151.1km from Opole and Zabrze.
The 24-year-old
Trek-Segafredo rider dedicated his victory to the stricken Jakobsen.
“I am super happy
to be able to dedicate it to him, and to his quick recovery, to his return to
life, to cycling,” the Dane told TVP Sport.
