If there’s anyone in cycling whose opinion on how to make sprinting safer should be sought after, it’s Fabio Jakobsen. After all, it was in August 2020’s Tour of Poland that the Dutchman was forced into the race barriers on a slightly downhill sprint and somersaulted into the race gantry, forcing doctors to place him into a medically-induced coma. Jakobsen survived, miraculously recovered to win a stage of the Tour de France in 2022, but safety remains the hot topic within the sport. And bunch sprints are a particular focus. 

“I think safety has improved and we haven’t seen an accident like mine happen again so that’s a good thing and let’s hope it stays that way, but I think organisations and the UCI should always keep looking at what we can improve to avoid extreme crashes like that, and among sprinters and riders we need to make sure that it’s safe,” Jakobsen says, just before he partakes in February’s UAE Tour, colloquially known as the sprinter’s world championships. In his mind, though similar incidents have been avoided, sprinting is more dangerous than ever. “Sprints are getting more crowded, and with more crowds you have a much bigger chance at an accident. There are more teams focused on sprints, and more riders able to do a top-five. It’s just more busy. Especially if you look at a race like UAE, you could say 20, 25 names could do a top-10 result, so that means 15 of those are going to be out. When I first did the Dubai Tour, which was then the UAE Tour, there were three or four teams going for the sprint, and now there’s maybe 10. So it’s doubled or tripled.”

This article was published by Rouleur in February 2025. You can read the full article here.