Jakobsen ‘very grateful’ to be alive after horror crash

The 23-year-old Deceuninck-Quick Step rider was left fighting for his life with severe facial injuries from a horrifying opening stage crash on August 5.

He was placed in a medically-induced coma and underwent a five-hour operation, regaining consciousness two days later.

In Monday’s emotional statement he acknowledged the enormous debt he owed to all the medical personnel involved in his treatment.

“The trauma doctors and nurses at the finish line in Katowice saved my life, for which I am extremely grateful to them,” he said.

“I spent a week in the intensive care unit at St. Barbara hospital in Sosnowiec. Here they immediately operated on me for five hours and gave me the chance to live. I am very grateful to all employees of this hospital.

“It was a difficult, dark period for me in the ICU, where I was afraid of not surviving.”

Jakobsen’s condition improved sufficiently for him to be moved back home to the Netherlands last week, but “multiple surgeries and treatments to fix facial injuries” lie ahead.

“Currently I am at home,” he added, “where the wounds in my face and my injuries can continue to recover”.

“In addition, I have to rest a lot in the coming months because of a severe concussion.”

He continued: “I want to let everyone know that I am very grateful that I am still alive.

“All the messages and words of support have given me tremendous strength. Step by step I can slowly look to the future, and I will fight to recover.”

Jakobsen’s Belgian teammate Remco Evenepoel went on to win in Poland, only to suffer a horror fall himself in Saturday’s Tour of Lombardy one-day classic.

He was flown home from Italy on Monday to continue his recovery from a fractured pelvis suffered in his spectacular season-ending spill when he plunged off a bridge and into a ravine.