Changes in training and weight loss for Fabio Jakobsen after tough year - "Maybe the 2024 approach would’ve made me competitive four or five years ago"
Cycling
Fabio Jakobsen is a rider that has in the past been considered one of the very best sprinters in cycling. Perhaps that is still the case, but the overall level and pace over the last few years has improved so vastly that the Dutchman often finds himself not even being able to contest the sprints. In 2025 that changes, after a lot of reflection and big changes.
"Last year, I often didn’t manage to get into the right position and didn’t even get to sprint. That’s partly physical and partly tactical, and those often go hand-in-hand," Jakobsen said in an interview with In de Leiderstrui.
"We all need to keep up with the times, and last year I fell behind in that regard. Now, I’m trying to take at least one step forward, if not more. That’s why I’m ahead of my usual schedule—I don’t want to spend another year playing catch-up."
After losing several kilos, Jakobsen has now also begun focusing more on the non-sprinting part of his training. In 2024 he put the maximum emphasis in gaining muscle mass and raw power for the bunch finishes, but he payed in climbing ability. Over the year, where he won once (at the Tour of Turkey), he often struggled on the climbs even when the pace was not so high. In the Grand Tours it proved to be absolutely hellish for the Team Picnic PostNL rider.
"I’ve never seen myself as a pure sprinter but always viewed myself through the lens of a classics-style rider, both in training and as a racer. Otherwise, you don’t win a race like Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne," he says, one where he'd like to perform again. "I shouldn’t push that aspect aside too much. Classics riders can position themselves well, recover from deep efforts, and I need to get back to that a bit more."
With the weight of the Dutch team on his shoulders, of which he signed to be a leader and undisputed head sprinter last year, there is the responsibility to improve.
"Cycling is evolving, it’s faster and harder, especially uphill. I trained extremely hard for that. I gained a few kilos of extra muscle mass, and that’s clear in the data. That worked well, but it wasn’t functional at all for winning races. We have to be honest about that," he admits. Now, the focus has changed, and he is positive that 2025 will hold better luck.
"Maybe the 2024 approach would’ve made me competitive four or five years ago. Last year, we put too much emphasis on maximizing my sprint power, but you still need to be able to sprint at the end of a race. It’s about finding the right balance, and that’s what we’re working on. We’re getting closer, but I don’t want to be premature—it needs to show in races first."
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GC aims in the @giroditalia and stage hunting @letourdefrance with our Men’s program🥇
— Team Picnic PostNL (@picnicpostnl) January 6, 2025
With plenty of sprinting prowess in our ranks in 2025 we want to build on last year and go for even more top results in races throughout the year. Alongside that we’ll continue to grow our… pic.twitter.com/Z6arUk1sam
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- You’re both right but also both (me too) biased by this endless indoctrination through the expectations of others (no cyclist is worth mentioning without a tdf legacy) and sorry Fred but the part about him having to win the whole thing is misguided, Cavendish is venerated by most and he might not have even reached 50th in the how many editions he did (about double Merckxs). As rightly said Mathieu rides for HIMSELF (aside obligations) take it or leave it, I really don’t think he (and most others, even Cav or Pog) lie around in bed at night worrying or strategising about how to cement a place in history. We are lucky to witness a period where some of the best cyclists are (aside from money) motivated in the right way, you can often see in the authentic way they celebrate crossing the line after a huge effort, MVDPs are some of the best, 100% dedication, my favourite was the communion with his grandfather when he won that stage, it was visibly (worth seeing again if available) so powerful, I even think the only reason he tried the TdF at all (he’d never really shown any interest personally and I’m pretty sure it was a business “obligation” was in hommage to his grandfather who meant so much to him. Once done I think he realised he doesn’t enjoy it (should he (any of us actually) force himself to do a job he isn’t enjoying?) and saw no more reason to continue but being open he accepted to try something new, lead-out man and did it admirably. His riding career has now probably “peaked” and he’ll want to focus on those things personally still important before it’s too late and leads to regrets. I am sure he’ll regret his luck/carelessness at Olympics more than anything TdF related and among future goals, that will be his number 1 rectification target and sorry for those TdF obsessors (who often watch nothing else all year) but for many the Olympics are more important than eg the Tour, no matter what the majority of cycling thinks, and they have that right.Mistermaumau08-01-2025
- To MVDP, even if he wins 10 stages of the TDF, if he can't be overall champion (GC), he still loses.. so he thinks he has nothing to gain. He'd rather win a hundred minor races than frustrate himself trying to win the grandest race of them all. The mindset of a winner, you say? Maybe, but I don't think so. Nevertheless, he's a great cyclist. Monuments and classics, one-day races are his thing. He can ride a one-day 300 km race and win it, but a 3,500 km race spread over 21 days? Forget it.. he can win a stage or two, wear the yellow jersey for a day or two, (no mean feat, by the way) and finish in 50th place just the same, not even good enough for a podium, and he doesn't like it. To him, it's a waste of time.FredMan08-01-2025
- i’m with you on this… ALL IN for the xco world’s. a legacy of World Champion in four disciplines. that’s one for the ages…OCexile08-01-2025
- i’ve said before that i worry for mathieu’s place in history because he only has one tdf stage. cycling pundits place SO much emphasis off tdf wins that many of them still rate wva as superior to van der poel, which can ONLY be based on wout’s 9 tour wins (which impressively DO come over the whole spectrum of tdf parcours). as a fan of mvdp i wish he’d dedicate a couple years to racking up 5 or 6 more stage wins. that said, mathieu matches to his own drummer. he gets bored easily. and ultimately he’s gonna decide all in his own what does and don’t capture his interest and imagination. that’s one of the things i like BEST about him, so if he’s done with the Tour then that’s that, au revoir…OCexile08-01-2025
- I reported this in March of 2024. There was a bogus Facebook ad.davbott08-01-2025
- Does that mean that the Rapho jersey that I just purchased is a fake?
santiagobenites07-01-2025 - Utter rubish, if you think he peaks over 12 times trains, races, rests in 1 year you are living in cuckoo land.Senna196007-01-2025
- All theory, in practice much can happen, Tao won a Giro.Mistermaumau07-01-2025
- Same thing with ASSOS there was a fraudulent site in US, so I contacted ASSOS it’s down now. I don’t like counterfeiters or they bunk products. Call me old fashioned, it’s called honest.JtotheB07-01-2025
- Good on him for saying so; there's more to pro cycling than the Tour. The XCO World title is one still missing, so why not target that? However, Crans-Montana is really technical, and he will need plenty of time training and racing back on the MTB if he's going to go close. We know what happens with poor prep - crashes. This isn't CX, where you can turn up and win - the top MTB riders have got skills and MTB isn't just about watts......wipperman9507-01-2025