"More of a cyclist, less of a sprinter"; (how) will Jakobsen manage that for the Tour?

Fabio Jakobsen and dsm-firmenich PostNL: so far, the collaboration hasn’t brought the success either side had hoped for, but a better period appears on the horizon. The sprinter from the Netherlands has somewhat shifted his training approach and now hopes to be more competitive in race finales, with the Tour de France as the logical main goal. IDLProCycling.com spoke with him.

Jakobsen claimed one victory, a stage in the Tour of Turkey. Besides that, he and his team did not choose an easy schedule, competing in high-profile races like the UAE Tour, Paris-Nice, and Classic Brugge-De Panne. These were supposed to lead up to a successful Giro, but they were somewhat disappointed there: Jakobsen struggled in the finales due to the preceding climbs and ultimately had to leave the race after a crash.

"Back to the drawing board," he already told us during that Giro. "I feel good, I recover well, but I'm just not fast enough. Like there's some kind of limit on it... Maybe I need to become more of a cyclist and less of a sprinter. For now, this Giro was a good week of training, and seeing how I managed, I could really use it," he explained then. Did he actually manage to implement those statements heading into the Tour?

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Fabio, most importantly, how are you doing?

"Better and better. I've recovered from my crash in the Giro."

How hard did that fall hit you? You're struggling over those hills and mountains, and then you find yourself on the asphalt just when you're about to sprint.

"That sucked, but it's part of the sport. Things were actually getting better and I felt like I had something left in the tank for the finale, so I was getting involved that day. But I was also too far back, even though we knew it was a technical finish. We missed the first crucial point and then you're just playing catch-up, and you end up in the spot and the corner where the crashes happen... and then, yeah, you're down."

What exactly were your injuries? We saw in a video the next day that your chest took a heavy hit, but can you explain what exactly was the issue?

"I had a bruised sternum and a few bruised ribs. I also slept poorly, and I know from last year's Tour that there's little point in continuing, especially after such a big crash. The road rash was a bit less, as the asphalt was smoother. But a hit is still a hit, I landed chest-first on the rear wheel of the guy in front of me. My neck also took a bit of a hit, so no... it wasn't wise to continue."

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How long did you take to recover?

"I also caught a bit of a cold at home, with a flu-like illness. Bram, Tobias, and Julius (Welten, Lund Andresen, and Van den Berg, ed.) had it too and I started feeling it at home. Along with the crash, I took four or five days off completely to recover, then I started training again."

How are you feeling now? You said in an interview with our editor Bram during the Giro that you need to become 'more of a cyclist and less of a sprinter'; how have you managed to achieve that?

"Literally more cycling and more focus from start to finish, so I have more left in the last kilometers. But we shouldn't be fixated only on those ten, fifteen, or thirty seconds because a race is four or five hours AND then a sprint. However, it's a matter of fine-tuning, you don't suddenly go from two to six hours. It's in the details, where the team and I need to get to know each other. I have six years of experience at the highest level, but this didn't quite work out. In elite sports, it's all about the details and you can be ruthlessly penalized for them."

Those details, what do they entail? Less muscle mass?

"Yes, I've lost a good two and a half or three kilos. Ideally, I'd lose a little more before the Tour, and then I'll be at the weight I need to be. The Tour will still be very tough, but we're focusing a bit less on mass and strength and more on agility and speed in the finale."

What do these feedback sessions look like within dsm-firmenichPostNL?

"We lay everything out on the table honestly for everyone. Discussions with coaches, nutritionists, and everyone involved. I'm open and honest, but it was clear that things needed to change a bit. It's also a personal thing, you know. Everyone has slightly different talents, and some adjustments were necessary, especially considering how modern cycling is. Nowadays, they're almost all classic riders who can sprint, not just sprinters who sprint. They're all becoming more complete, and I might have just crossed that boundary now."

Are you back over that threshold now?

"I'm pretty close to it. I'm hoping to be involved in the finals here at the Baloise Belgium Tour. We're here with Bram and John (Welten and Degenkolb, ed.), who are also in the Tour's preliminary selection. We're missing Nils (Eekhoff, ed.), who's still got a headache from his crash in Dunkirk. With Bram and John, we're going to try to control the race and aim for the win with me."

Speaking of which, how is your train for the Tour shaping up? Nils is under the weather, Timo Roosen has some issues...

"We'll have to wait and see. Julius isn't fully fit either; he spent a few days with a fever at home after the Giro. So, no, we're in a rough spot. At Visma | Lease a Bike they've had a lot of bad luck, but we also don't have many riders left. For example, we're here with just two guys from the Development Team and only six riders in total, so we'll still have to make some choices for the Tour."

Is that frustrating?

"It sucks, but it's the sport. There's nothing I can do about it now. I'm glad to be here with Bram and John and to get going with them, and maybe someone like Patrick Eddy can step up. It could actually create opportunities for other guys, and let's hope they can rise to the occasion."

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'More cyclist, less sprinter'; (how) has Jakobsen managed that heading into the Tour?

You've obviously looked at the Tour's route book. How many opportunities do you see for yourself?

"About four or five. We'll have to see how we get through that first weekend. It's not an easy opening week, but there are some sprints. I should be able to handle that, but the Tour is the Tour and then everyone is at the top of their game."

Quite a few teams are not bringing a sprinter.

"There are enough sprinters overall, seven or eight guys could always win. It will still be crowded in the finale and with the GC riders it's always busy in the last ten or twenty kilometers. If we can be in position in the last kilometer and have a clear run, then we should be able to compete for the win. But it is and remains the Tour."

That's true. Hey, it's mid-June now. How would you summarize your first (almost) half-year at dsm-firmenich PostNL, in one word, sentence, or paragraph?

"Uuuhh. Close, but not close enough. But it's there and I think we can bring it out. It's obviously a huge change. Different equipment, support, staff, nutrition... I was completely used to the Belgian Quick-Step. It hasn't been perfect here yet, but certainly good enough to keep morale high. That's what I have. We want to win and it's possible, but in elite sports, everything needs to be one hundred percent."

The team really appreciates you. I spoke with Casper van Uden on Saturday after his win at the ZLM Tour and he extensively thanked you for the tips you gave him at the training camp in Spain.

"Casper is a local guy and just a good kid, a talent. I've also been lucky to learn from other sprinters and that's kind of how it works. I think it's part of it and he doesn't need to thank me, but I'm glad to see him win. I contribute my part and so does everyone in the team."

That's very commendable.