Updated: UCI condemns Dylan Groenewegen as Fabio Jakobsen fights for his life after horrific Tour de Pologne crash

Is there any news about a race official? It seems like Jakobsen hit him almost immedeately after the crash

answering to myself: the official is in stable condition and already regainded consciousness

Shocking riding by Groenewegen with deliberate intentions of forcing Jakobsen into the barriers.  Both bikes were level on a straight road, so no 'racing line' to gain any advantage.  If this happened in motor racing, there would be serious consequences for the driver at fault.

And the race organisers are not much better.  Clearly they all about the 'exciting & quick' finish with no regard for rider safety.  How long before a rider gets paralysed or worse?

Do the UCI have any minimum standards for barriers etc at the finish of a race?

It shouldn't be that hard to implement a set of suitably protective barriers for say the final 150 metres of a finish, with no protruding legs, able to withstand a certain amount of force etc. Maybe if race organisers were threatened with legal action each time the barriers fail or cause an injury they might invest in some proper equipment. Not expecting them to put it everywhere, but at any kind of high speed finish it really should be better.

Disgusted and horrified by this crash. I think it was a perfect storm hey... reckless riding, reckless course design, inadequate race infrastructure. The UCI has some work to do following this. 

First and foremost, DG's riding was disgusting. There is no place for that in this sport. Look I've raced many years, I'm a sprinter, and I know all about closing windows, putting on the squeeze, rubbin's racing etc. etc. This was not that, there was no psychology here, no squeeze... It looks obvious, from my perception anyway, that DG knew FJ was coming up, and rather than being a squeeze, that was a firm door shut... at close to 80kph.

He left no room for FJ to even back out, it was a horrible mis-judgement based on aggression and poor sportsmanship. 

As for course design, yeah questions need to be asked, but again my thoughts return to DG's conduct. He knew well in advance, hell I'm sure his bike was even geared up especially for the known fast finish, but he still decided to ride that recklessly. Sticking to F1 analogies, its akin to coming up the inside of a driver at Copse corner and then running them out wide and off the course. The danger is a known. Yes lessons should be taken from this around course design and finish line standards, but make no mistake, the initial focus should be stamping out this type of rider behaviour.

Reflecting on my own riding, watching this incident has made me genuinely question why and if I should continue to race, certainly I couldn't condone one of my children looking at cycling as a professional sport. Currently it appears like some form of macabre joke. For me an example needs to be made.. 

A what point does an accepted tactic become a criminal matter?

How can you cheer for a rider who rides like that! If you cant win with your legs, chucking someone into the barriers like that is common assault. Worse cheating than doping

Are those barriers up to regulation? Groenewegen's riding is, on the face of it, pretty appalling, but the incident might have been less serious if the barriers had held firm, and Jakobsen had bounced off the hoardings and fallen into the road. As Cavendish did when Sagan sent him into the barriers at the 2017 Tour. Instead the barriers exploded in all directions, even catching up with Groenewegen's back wheel and sending him flying. Or maybe they are designed to have the weight of a crowd of people behind them?

Shocking accident. Hope he pulls through.

Cycling is still like F1 up to 70s in terms of certain safety aspects. Sprints are a prime accident area and these metal barriers with some light foam over them seem like a problem that could so with solving.

Never mind, I'm sure sock measuring is higher up the UCI's list of priorities.

Seneschal didn't tweet a picture of the damage to his mitts. He was first to get to Fabio and was holding his head still, that picture was not his blood. Thankfully he deleted it, because it was a dickhead move to post it.

At least a Bianchi crossed the line first though. But seriously, that appeared to be a really bad 'shouldering' by Groenewegen.

insane crash, the slow-mo zoomed clip shows Dylan moving way off his line and flicking the elbow out, DQ  and doubt he'll be in the rest of the tour.