"Remco is someone you have to invest in and if I was running the team then I would do the same" - Fabio Jakobsen understands Soudal - Quick-Step's decision to split up with him

Fabio Jakobsen no longer had a spot at Soudal - Quick-Step, with the priority and salary he once had. The Belgian team's change in priorities led the former European Champion to leave the team, in direction of Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL.

“During the Tour de France, Patrick [Lefevere] told me that there was no spot for me. I was already talking to a few teams, and DSM were one of the first to make contact with my managers and myself," Jakobsen shared in an interview with GCN. “When you’re in the team you can see it and feel it. Remco is someone you have to invest in and if I was running the team then I would do the same. It hurts, and it’s my personal pain, but I understand. The way Patrick works is that if he can’t offer you his best then he won’t offer anything. In the end, there was no offer so I didn’t have to make a choice. He didn't want to give me a programme that didn’t fit what I was capable of. We’ve parted ways but in a good way.”

Bora-hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost, Arkéa Samsic, Groupama-FDJ and Israel-Premier Tech were among the teams who were interested in the former European Champion. A long list of choices, but ultimately Jakobsen, who suffered life-threatening injuries in 2020 but had an extraordinary return to pro cycling later on, seeked sole leadership in the sprints, in the best structure possible. He found this in DSM, who have opened spots and were looking for a top sprinter to fill in the blank spot that was left by their departing fast men.

“As a sprinter, you don’t always have the luxury of going for the top teams because there’s always the GC ambition there but as a sprinter, you want to win sprints in the Grand Tours and if a team goes there with a GC then there’s no spot for a GC train," he continues. "I think at Quick-Step it was possible but now it’s changing because of Remco. It’s how cycling is structured, so as a sprinter, you need to find a team that fully supports you in that quest."

Ultimately Jakobsen, now 27, will find sole leadership but a much more modest leadout setup. “But this is a really nice project and we’ve got a lot of races to get things right over the next three years. For sure I need to get used to the leadership but I sometimes had that at Quick-Step but here it might be more important because they will look at me."

It is an opportunity for Jakobsen to lead once again and build a strong leadout, with no secondary focus from his teammates. "I just want them to work with me and to work together because if I win then they win. I think we can win more than a few bike races if we get it right and there’s a lot more potential in the younger riders," he concluded.