Fabio Jakobsen 'awake' and in 'good condition' following horrific crash, says hospital director in Poland

Fabio Jakobsen, the 23-year-old Dutch rider who was placed in a medically-induced coma after crashing into safety barriers at over 80kph in Poland on Wednesday, is now “awake” and in “good condition”.

According to reports in Holland, Jakobsen broke almost all of the bones in his face and lost all of his teeth following the incident, which happened during a fast downhill sprint into Katowice at the end of stage one. He underwent a total of five and a half hours of facial surgery.

There was good news regarding Jakobsen’s overall condition on Friday, though, with the hospital in Sosnowiec where he is being treated describing the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider’s condition as “good” and adding that he was not showing “any neurological symptoms”.

“The patient is conscious, follows orders, is disconnected from the ventilator, so he is breathing alone,” the hospital’s director said. “I think that if he survived such a fall, he will return to sport for sure.”

The incident, which is believed to have been caused when Jumbo-Visma’s Dylan Groenewegen deviated from his racing line and forced Jakobsen into the barriers, has prompted outrage within cycling over the poor safety standards present at the finish.

The UCI, cycling’s governing body, has come under heavy fire for not doing more to protect riders.

There has also been anger expressed towards Groenewegen with Deceuninck-Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere tweeting in the immediate aftermath that the Dutchman should be thrown in prison.

"I confirm what I said on Twitter,” Lefevere said on Friday. “We have already filed a complaint to the UCI and we will file a complaint to the Polish police, we won't let this drop.

"I have watched the sprint dozens of times and I cannot fathom why Groenewegen did that.”