Fabio Jakobsen abandons Giro d'Italia after being wounded in mass sprint crash - Dutchman pulls plug on disastrous race

Fabio Jakobsen had a nightmare Giro d'Italia and it ended before the start of stage 12. After having bad form and struggling form on the first week of the race; he suffered a hard crash mid-sprint on the 11th day of the race and will not continue it.

“It’s a shame to leave race like this. I was starting to feel better, my legs were improving, and I was looking forward to being in the fight for results with the team," Jakobsen said in a press release issued by the team. "I’m pretty sore after the crash so will rest up and recover before building for the next goals with the team. I wish the guys the best for the remainder of the race and I’ll be cheering them on from home.”

A 22nd place on stage 4 was his best result and only Top100 result in the race. After taking his first stage win of the season at the Tour of Turkey it looked like he was on his way to contesting for the bunch sprints at the Giro, but that was not the case. The team also couldn't depend much on Tobias Lund Andresen who also suffered from crashes - including another together with Jakobsen yesterday. Jakobsen crashed in the final sprint together with his teammate, Madis Mihkels and Jenthe Biermans. No fractures were diagnosed, but the Dutchman is beaten up after the high-speed incident.

“Fabio had a tough patch at the beginning of the race but he was coming into it well," team coach Matt Winston added. "We saw him do some really nice teamwork in the previous days to keep Romain safe and help for the break formations, so we were hopeful of our chances in the upcoming sprints. It’s a shame to see him leave the race and we all wish him a speedy recovery."