If one thinks about what he had to go through less than three years ago, it is nothing short of impressive, to say the least, that Fabio Jakobsen is still here dictating the law among the world’s best sprinters, of whom he can now be considered the king. Today in Follonica, in the second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico 2023, the Soudal-QuickStep rider took his first career victory in Italy, he who has already collected up 40 victories at the age of 26.

And God only knows how many more there could have been, had he not spent almost a year trying to become a normal person again after the terrible crash in Katowice, at the 2020 Tour of Poland. Fans will remember it well: Jakobsen, on that first stage of the Polish race, crashed into the side barriers during the final sprint, falling, losing his helmet and also hitting a race worker in the impact. He was found on the ground, conscious and in a pool of blood, then taken to Katowice hospital where he was put into a medically induced coma due to severe respiratory damage and multiple fractures to his face. If the doctors had not intervened in time, he later admitted, he would not be here now to put on a show for cycling fans. They rebuilt his jaw and subjected him to countless facial surgeries to restore his normal face.