On Wednesday, at the finish line of the first stage of Tour De Pologne, Dylan Groenewegen caused a serious accident in which Fabio Jakobsen suffered. The Dutchman wanted to block Fabio ahead of him on the right. However, he cut his way and pushed him to the right, which caused his compatriot to fall into the railings and suffered very serious injuries – the rescue operation on the spot lasted several dozen minutes, and other people were also injured. Jakobsen’s condition is described as severe but stable, and his life is no longer in danger. He underwent a five-hour operation on Wednesday night, and the doctors plan to gradually wake him up from his coma.
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A terrible accident on the Tour de Pologne. “I saw a lot of blood on the asphalt”
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Groenewegen was also pushed onto the railing five years ago
In 2015, Groenewegen himself experienced a similar accident. He was pushed towards the barrier by the Belgian Jens Debusschere during the final of the Belgian UCI Europe Tour, Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen. His rival then crossed the finish line first, but was pulled back to sixth for causing Groenewegen’s fall. Back then, unlike on Wednesday in Zabrze, the barrier was not broken or torn out. The Dutchman only bounced off her strongly and fell on the asphalt. He lay at the barrier for a long time and held on to the knee that suffered the most in the accident. After the change of results, the race was finally won by a Pole, Michał Gołaś.
– I’m not comfortable with it. Dylan’s health and the consequences of the accident are much more important now than losing the race win. I didn’t do it on purpose and I regret the situation. The judges’ decision is what it is, I spoke to Dylan and told him I didn’t think he had enough room to maneuver. He is young and talented, and I would not like to get the label of the one who has to fight unfair with him. We will definitely meet again and I hope that we will be able to leave it all somewhere in the back – said Debusschere after the race, quoted by cyclingquotes.com.
“He gets crazy as he races”
A year later, Groenewegen could have been the culprit of such an accident. During the Tour de l’Eurometropole he pushed Oliver Naesen towards the barriers. The Belgian managed to keep his balance and did not fall off his bike, and the Dutchman reached the finish line first and began to celebrate the victory. Naesen was right behind him. He was furious, shouting and gesturing towards his rival. After the race, he called him “underdeveloped.”
– He’s a nice guy off-track, but he gets crazy during the race. Like all of us, it resets the mind and doesn’t think normally during the last meters of the competition. I know only one exception – this is Andre Greipel, who is calm and is sometimes criticized in the environment – Naesen pointed out in a speech for “Het Laatste Nieuws”.
Groenewegen on the TdP accident: “I hate what happened”
After causing the accident on Wednesday, Groenewegen was unanimously found guilty of this situation – the Tour de Pologne organizers disqualified him, and the International Cycling Federation (UCI) referred the case to the Disciplinary Committee, which will probably give him another penalty. – It was an attempted murder – said Patrick Lefevere, director of the Deceuninck Quick-Step group. – There are grounds for charging the Dutchman with serious damage to health – Paweł Socha, a lawyer from Fornalik Law, specializing in sports law, assessed in an interview with tvp.info.
– I hate what happened yesterday. I cannot find words to describe how sorry I am for Fabio and the others who have suffered in this accident. Right now, Fabio’s health is paramount. I think about him all the time – wrote about the accident on Twitter Groenewegen.
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