"It’s a bit of a lost year": Months of recovery define Fabio Jakobsen’s troubled 2025

Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen had a very difficult 2025 season once again, marked by two major crashes, surgery, and several months away from competition. The 29-year old has been struggling a lot in the past two years, as he finished the year winless for the first time in his professional career.

Speaking in a new video published by Team Picnic PostNL's offical Youtube channel, the Dutch rider described the past year as one of repeated setbacks that never allowed him to build momentum, something that has been a constant throughout his career.

Jakobsen had been preparing to restart his season at races in Denmark and Belgium when disaster struck again. “I was ready to get started with racing in Denmark and Renewi Tour, and unfortunately had to abandon with a broken collarbone.”

He refers to the third stage of the Renewi Tour (won by Mathieu van der Poel ahead of Arnaud de Lie in an epic battle), in which he suffered a crash early in the day that broke his collarbone and forced him to stop once again.

According to Jakobsen, the crash was only the start of a deeper problem. Despite a strong winter of training, he never reached competitive form once the season began. “It’s a bit of a lost year. I never came close to a podium, and that’s where we started to look into what was keeping me from performing,” he explained.

Team doctors later determined that Jakobsen was suffering from restricted blood flow in both iliac arteries, a condition that has affected several sprinters in the past. “It turned out to be the blood supply at the iliac area, which hit me really hard. I knew it wouldn’t be a few weeks of rehab, but months instead.”

Jakobsen underwent surgery and spent six weeks completely off the bike before slowly rebuilding his shape. Despite the difficult process, he remains optimistic and rules out retirement. “That’s life sometimes. I still enjoy cycling, and that’s why I’m here. I want to get back on top after the last two years.”

Jakobsen has one additional year of contract with Picnic, the team that signed him in 2024 after spending 6 seasons with Quick Step. He has only managed to win once with the Dutch team, and that was the first stage of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye 2024. 

The last stage race he managed to complete was the UAE Tour in February. After that, he always had to abandon for one reason or another (Paris-Nice, PostNord Tour of Denmark, Renewi Tour and Tour of Holland).