"That fire only grows larger": Fabio Jakobsen is not frustrated, but knows he needs to improve

"I'm not satisfied," the sprinter shares his verdict. "As a sprinter, you want to win, and we haven’t done that. We learned a lot, but ultimately, you want to win. That's why I started cycling. All in all, we are doing many things right, but except for Nokere, we didn't even get close. We need to improve, and that’s something the whole team, myself included, are working very hard on."

In Brugge-De Panne, he finished in 89th place, but what exactly happened during that crazy finale on the Belgian coast for him? "I was too far back after the last corner, so I ended up behind the crash. That was my mistake. Bram Welten and I were not yet in a lost position, but that crash put us there. You know that can happen, so you'd rather be a bit too far to the front. I had to brake and ended up coming to a complete stop, with my chain off. Then you know it’s over in a race like that, you can’t recover from that. Before that, we were just caught in the wind and lost each other, that was it."

After the debrief, Jakobsen stepped out of the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team bus for a second analysis, this time with the media. "We discussed the finale, with feedback from everyone. We'll carry forward the positive aspects and learn from the negatives. This wasn't the result we came for, but it's part of the game. Of course, I'm upset about it because I want to win. We were not close at all this time, after one mistake after another. I'm part of that, so it needs to improve. And we're working hard on that."

The Dutchman, who moved from Soudal Quick-Step last winter, is definitely not having doubts about the possibilities. "We all come from different teams, so we have to get used to each other. We're not yet a well-oiled machine that has been riding together for years. But what hasn't happened yet can still come... The intention is already there with everyone, it just all needs to come together. I'm confident it will work out, and we shouldn't throw in the towel too quickly."

Jakobsen emphasized afterwards that he has seen plenty of positive things as well. This was the case in Brugge-De Panne too. "We were always grouped and well to the front, so up until the last one and a half kilometers, I was always in a winning position. Even in the final corner, we were not out of it, but that's where it went wrong. But that's exactly when it needs to happen, so those are the details. It's not that we haven't been involved at all, but to win, everything needs to go right. We're getting closer and closer."

Overall, we're seeing a more eager sprinter race by race. "That fire only grows larger. It's not that I'm frustrated, but it does need to improve. That's what I'm going to work hard on in the coming period, heading to the Tour of Turkey and the Giro. I'm in it for the results. I'm nearing top form and hope I will fully get there by Turkey and the Giro. I'm continuing my training in the way it's been going. My form and stamina are on the rise, so we'll keep pushing that," concludes Jakobsen, whose classics campaign is now finished.