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news
Fabio Jakobsen crash at 2020 Tour de Pologne (picture credit ilario Biondi/LB/RB/CorVos/SWpix.com).JPGDylan Groenewegen reportedly set to be banned for nine months for causing Tour de Pologne horror crash
The Jumbo-Visma sprinter Dylan Groenewegen is reportedly set to be banned for nine months for causing Fabio Jakobsen to crash by pushing him into the barriers at the Tour de Pologne in August, causing horrific injuries to the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider.
World cycling’s governing body, which strongly condemned Groenewegen’s actions following the crash, which led to Jakobsen being placed in an induced coma, is set to announce the partially retroactive ban shortly, reports the Dutch website Wielerflits.
Doctors feared for Jakobsen’s life immediately after the incident which happened during a fast, downhill sprint, leading to calls for such finishes to be banned in the interests of rider safety.
The 24 year old Dutch rider, who was placed in an induced coma, needed 130 stitches to be inserted for the horrendous facial injuries he sustained, which left him with just one tooth, and is undergoing a lengthy course of reconstructive surgery.
> Fabio Jakobsen out of coma as team mulls legal action against Dylan Groenewegen
Groenwegen himself has not raced after being suspended following the crash metres from the line in Katowice on the opening stage of the race on 5 August, and his backdated ban, which he would be able to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is reportedly due to expire on 6 May next year.
He won the stage but was disqualified afterwards, with the stage win instead being awarded to Jakobsen, who is now back riding his bike and hopes to return to full training shortly.
Picture credit: Ilario Biondi/lb/rb/Cor Vos/SWpixcom
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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14 comments
There's a simple solution to this and other terrible incidents: stop racing with barriers as the edge of the course. Schedule finishes on wide roads (most are anyway as they're usually "Main Street" in the destination town). Have painted lines on the road from 500 metres out to the finish, and the barriers two metres or more back from the lines. Anyone who crosses the lines in the last 500m is relegated to the back (unless pushed over the line in which case the offender is relegated). Funnelling packs of riders into narrow finishes and allowing them to ride inches from the barriers is inevitably going to lead to accidents.
Excuse me, is that UCI or UFC? I can't see the difference...
I think nine months ban is a bold sanction, right or wrong I don't know. In reality a ban until May won't actually affect Groenewegen much.
What I do know is that it was not a 'pre-meditated' manouvre and the barriers had a LOT to do with just how horrific this crash ended up.
The 'real' action from this would be to change some H&S rules.. and the UCI should take some responsibility for looking after young Jakobsen in his recovery as well as assessing and looking after the mental health of Groenewegen who we know might never get back to the top tier of racing again due to this incident.
It is another attempt to deflect the focus from real measures that could help rider safety. Those barriers were not fit for purpose at all, the. You add in motorbikes, official cars and even helicopters taking out the riders and the organisers have a huge amount to answer for.
Maybe discouraging riders from causing serious accidents could also help rider safety too. It's not either-or. Letting Groenewegen off won't automatically make barriers safer or support car drivers more competent.
My impression, from 35 years of watching pro races, is that nowadays there are fewer dirty tricks (like pulling shorts and saddles) and more sprinting off-line and squeezing opponents into barriers. Changing line and squeezing are far more likely to cause injuries. Punish the dangerous stuff more heavily; sort out the barriers.
Shocking decision. Only a few days ago Sam Bennett was barging another rider out the way multiple times and we were told this is totally normal in a sprint (which I totally accept).
So ban everyone for 9 months just in case or scapegoat a single rider when pushed by the same team whose own riders act in the same way?!?
It was a racing incident ffs...
Hmm I'm sure Jakobsen will find your "racing incident" comforting as he takes his food in liquid form for the near future.
I haven't seen the Sam Bennett incidents but it sounds like you indulging in "whataboutery" to me.
Whilst I agree with Milkfloat that the main causes are poor organisation and standards, that does apply to the riders too, they should behave to a minimum level of decency. No one should be asked to risk their life on the outcome of a bike race ffs. If you think that's acceptable I might suggest you take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror.
If a fundamentally more dangerous sport like F1 can focus on competitor safety AND competitor behaviour, there is zero excuse for cycling not to do so.
Stop making excuses for them.
/
It wasn't intentional and wouldn't have been remotely as bad if it wasn't for the poor quality barriers. Yes come down hard on him - but do the same to all the riders regardless or whther they go down or not...or do nothing, which is what has happened for the last 100 years. Make a decision and stick to it.
My point is there have been worse barges since the incident and nothing has been done. Riders and fans need clarity over what is acceptable or not - I don't personally like the barging but if pro's say it's part and parcel and they are all happy then it's up to them (I'm sure not all feel this way).
While I do really like their riders and racing style I need to call out quick step here. They were talking about sending Dylan to prison over this yet as I've already pointed out, one of their own riders has been doing the same type of thing since and they have done the same previously, that's bs in my opinion
I disagree with you... well not entirely... I agree that it was a racing incident.
However, that racing incident was completely avoidable.
DG chopped Jakobsen quite deliberately and with excess. This caused a very predictable accident with very serious consequences for a number of people.
Now, quite rightly you need to question the choice of barriers, barrier lay-out and also choice of finish as these all had a significant impact on the severity of injuries sustained. It would be criminal to not focus on these areas too.
However, no one falls off at over 40mph and comes away unscathed, and realistically no one 'saves' a trip into the barriers at over 40mph... which brings us back to the cause of the accident... DG's conduct.
He knew the finish was unusually fast, so if he wasn't thinking about the ramifications of his actions around that speed, then he needs to be signficantly punished.
You can't just say it wasn't deliberate, as it was absolutely a deliberate move, and whilst I am sure DG's intention was never to harm anyone, it is difficult to see how his actions were ever going to cause anything but harm.
Make an example of the guy, draw a line in the sand... those scenes have no place in cycling.
Ever raced? If someone did that to me in a bunch sprint I would fucking marmalise them in the car park after the race. There's a massive difference between shoulders coming together in a sprint and closing the door on someone knowing full well there's barriers with no run off and shoving them into them.
And I would probably act the same. My main point here is the lack of consistency from the UCI - they need to ban all riders that do something similar regardless of whether someone went down or not and make it clear that they will always be banned for this type of thing.
I probably need to take another look at it as I don't recall thinking that was definitely a deliberate action in all honesty
[/quote] And I would probably act the same. My main point here is the lack of consistency from the UCI - they need to ban all riders that do something similar regardless of whether someone went down or not and make it clear that they will always be banned for this type of thing. I probably need to take another look at it as I don't recall thinking that was definitely a deliberate action in all honesty[/quote]
I don't know if I'd agree with this either. Yes there needs to be more consistency in applying the rules, but not all barges / contacts are the same. You have to treat these people like the professionals they are; they are fully aware of their surroundings so should be expected to identify when a bit of squeezing is pushing it, and downright dangerous.