The 2017 Giro d'Italia winner, Tom Dumoulin, has not held back with his analysis of Fabio Jakobsen's performance level since last year (Photo: Fabio Ferrari)
Fabio Jakobsen (Picnic PostNL) has struggled to regain his form after having surgery just over a year ago to correct iliac artery flow problems which limited the power in his legs, especially in the sprint.
And now just 10 days after Jakobsen was outside the time limit on stage 3 at Boucles de la Mayenne Crédit Mutuel (2.Pro), Giro winner and former TT world champion Tom Dumoulin has weighed in with some pretty unforgiving analysis.
Working as a cycling pundit after retiring early in 2022 aged 31, Dumoulin said he liked Jakobsen but felt he needed to be completely honest when running the rule over riders.
He now believed his fellow Dutchman was no longer producing the kind of performances expected of professional riders, adding if he raced against top amateurs he would not be with them at the finish for a sprint.
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Fabio Jakobsen winning stage 2 at the Tour de France in Denmark in 2022 when riding for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl (Photo: Pauline Ballet)
“He really isn't making any progress anymore. Actually, he has been all year, but not last year either, for that matter. Back then there seemed to be a cause,” Dumoulin told the NOS podcast of the iliac artery issues.
“He had surgery and now nothing seems to be standing in the way of him reaching his old level. He is far from achieving it.”
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Dumoulin, who won the Giro and the TT at the Worlds in 2017, before falling out of love with cycling and quitting, said Jakobsen was effectively no longer a pro in performance terms.
“In fact, if he were racing at a lower level, among the elite amateurs, he probably wouldn't even get to sprint at this level. That is really sad," Dumoulin said, adding he felt he had to be dispassionate in his analysis.
"I like him and enjoy watching him as a sprinter. I don't know him that well, but I think he is a sweet guy. If he wants to remain a pro, I wholeheartedly wish him well.
“He is completely unworthy of a professional at the moment. Maybe he has a virus, but right now no team would sign him anymore, because he can't handle the level.”
Jakobsen (29) has won 46 races as a pro, including five Vuelta stages, a Tour de France stage and the road race title at the Europeans. He suffered a life-threatening crash at the 2020 Tour de Pologne, in the stage 1 sprint, and did not race again for another eight months.
However, he bounced back very strongly, taking seven wins in 2021, including three stages at La Vuelta, where he also claimed the points classification.
Thirteen wins followed in 2022, including at the Tour and Europeans, followed by eight wins in 2023 and one in 2024; his last victory coming on the opening stage at the Tour of Turkey in April of that year.
And while his winless season last year was put down to his iliac artery issues, and surgery, his form appears to have worsened this season, his last year of a three-season contract with his current team.
