"It's great that it's happening now" - Fabio Jakobsen and Julius Van den Berg look forward to racing in the same colours in 2024

Next season, childhood friends Fabio Jakobsen and Julius Van den Berg will be reunited again. The Dutch duo will work together at DSM Firmenich. In a double interview with AD, the riders recall nostalgic memories.

"We talked about it sometimes when we turned pro. That it would be great if we were one day in the team together," says Van den Berg. "But that never became concrete. It was mainly an idea of the two of us. It's great that it's happening now."

"That year there were four first-year prospects at SEG and we were the only two Dutch. Then you will click a little sooner. We have the same sense of humor. As a rider, Fabio is the type who figures everything out and goes after everything. "I'm more into training hard, cycling hard," says Van den Berg.

While Jakobsen has been continously winning ever since, for Van den Berg it was not always the case, as his last triumph dates back to 2021Tour de Pologne. The race where his friend suffered life-threatening injuries just a year earlier. Jakobsen still recalls the day.

"I still have some clear moments from before the accident. One of these is that for the local loop we ride towards a roundabout at a part of the course where we cross each other. I'm sitting behind my teammate Florian Sénéchal and that's where I meet Julius. I still wave at him and we saw each other and smiled at each other. I thought: nice for you that you are in the leading group, but we are going to sprint soon. At that moment, no one takes into account the terrible outcome that will follow."