I won’t post the video…it is easy enough to find if you want to see it. But Groenewegen put Fabio Jakobsen into the barriers right at the line. The barriers exploded, violently bringing down multiple riders.
Jakobsen has reportedly been put into a medically-induced coma with severe head / brain injuries, damage to his palate and severe bleeding. His is fighting for his life…
One of the worst crashes I have seen in years…immediately reminded me of Wilfried Nielsen and Lauren Jalabert in the 94 Tour de France.
Groenewegen clearly left his line, this alone was wrong. However, after last year’s horrible fatality it leaves me speechless that organizer put in a downhill sprint finish. Bunch sprints are already dangerous enough, no need put riders at a even higher risk.
yeah, that looked bad. There will probably be some heavy punishment coming down for that. My question is, do the barriers always come apart like that? Aren’t they usually interlocked so they can’t be pushed through like that? If he would have bounced off of the barriers sort of like Cav did, I don’t think he would have been hurt so tremendously.
Fingers crossed he pulls through. Agree it is idiotic to have a downhill finish for a sprint and also the organizers will need to look long and hard and the protection provided to riders in such tight finishes.
Probably a broader debate to be had about general behavior in bunch finishes too. You see a lot of barging in amateur / local pro crits and this brings home how dangerous it can be.
From what I have seen, that is not typical. Seems that most barriers I’ve seen in use interlock in one way or another, to keep them connected.
Hard to know (without more research) if these interlock and failed, or were just sitting aligned.
Regardless of the cause, separation of the barriers likely made this bad wreck even worse. The location next to the upright was probably another negative factor. Add in what appears to be an extra high speed for a messy combo.
Terrible crash and one that made my stomach turn. Hoping for the best.
I can’t speak to the specifics of the barriers and how they interlock (or don’t), but it would appear that jakobsen hit at exactly the wrong point…where two barriers are joined together, which is obviously the weakest part of the whole system.
Given the speeds they were travelling, I don’t know if any system, barring a single, continuous barrier, would have stayed together. He basically hit a seam at very high speed…
I do think it makes a case for overlapping the advertising placards with the barrier joints (and potentially strengthening the placards for more support). It looks like the placards are the exact same length as the barriers. If you staggered the placards, the barrier joints would be better covered and help prevent a rider from hitting them.
Maybe more appropriate sanctions for this kind of behaviour would lead to less conversations around barrier strengthening in anticipation of it happening again.
I don’t know that Groenwegen’s actions were any more or less egregious than we have seen in other races…yes, he moved off his line and yes, closed the door on Jakobsen and out him into the barriers…but we see that very often.
This crash was a confluecne of a number of things…Groenewegen’s actions, an extremely fast sprint due to the downhill and an unnecessarily narrow chute.
Remember, people lost their minds when Sagan got kicked out of the Tour for similar actions…
The sprinters’ mentality is fierce…they aren’t thinking about possible sanctions in the last 100m.
I think he veered way more harshly than you see in other sprints. From the overhead it appears he’s headed to the left barrier on his line and then he suddenly shifts to the right and moves all the way to that barrier instead.
Regardless, I really hope that Jackobson comes out of this. Just a totally brutal and terrifying crash.
Not me, I’ve never considered the amount of sprint finish crashes acceptable, but that’s just my take on it. Others may consider it part of the spectacle.
Jerschina said that Jakobsen had been intubated, which was difficult due to the nature of the injuries, and that although his heart was working well, he had lost a significant amount of blood.
Doctors at the hospital have since provided further updates, telling Polish media that Jakobsen remains in serious condition but has stabilized.
Still early, just relaying the news from the hospital, surgery to come with risks etc but hospital director reports his spine and brain ok
Regarding photographer/official:
it was a race official and he needed urgent treatment, “resuscitation” even, but since then I gather the prognosis is ok but only second hand info, nothing official
I’m sure Groenewegen will get relegated as he really came off his line. He and Jakobsen were far enough ahead that Jakobsen may get the win although its not clear from the video if actually crossed the line after he flew into the banner scaffolding.
That was brutal, even before you get to the guys back in the pack who got hit by flying fence parts.