Picnic-PostNL teammates John Degenkolb and Fabio Jakobsen had hoped to be part of the team's Tour de France lineup. However, the team reported Friday that both remained sidelined as they recover from two completely different health issues that required surgery two months ago.
Degenkolb exited the Tour of Flanders just beyond the halfway point when he crashed in the peloton, along with teammates Tim Naberman and Alex Edmondson. The trio were taken to a nearby hospital, with confirmation of fractures for the German and Dutch riders and Edmondson escaping with a sprained ankle.
Jakobsen was diagnosed with "flow limitation in the iliac artery in both his legs", described by his team, and surgery on April 2 was successful, with his recovery expected to take longer than expected.
“At the start of the year, both John and Fabio were on our long list for the Tour de France, but for both, the race comes too early," Rudi Kemna, head coach of Picnic PostNL, said in a team statement.
"Now our priority is to get them both back to full health and have a good training block where they can return to their high level, before we then look to a race program for the second half of the season.”
While Naberman did not require surgery to his wrist, he was off the bike for six weeks. Degenkolb, however, suffered breaks to his collarbone, elbow and wrist and underwent surgery in Frankfurt in early April, several days after the crash. A return to competition for July has been pushed back.
“The injuries John sustained were more serious than we thought from those very first scans and analysis after Flanders. He has had extensive surgery and has been able to ride indoors on the trainer in a controlled environment. However, he still needs follow-up surgery to remove some of the material that is in place to speed up his recovery," said Picnic PostNL team doctor Camiel Aldershof in a team statement.
"The timing of this means that he will not be ready to race at the beginning of July. From there, he can ride indoors again, and once things are healed, we can then focus on riding outside and building up his training level and intensities.”
His recovery time was expected to take up to 12 weeks, taking a start at the Tour out of the picture, but then he set his sights on the Vuelta a España at the end of August. Like Degenkolb, the team has now assessed that he will need more time off.
"On the other hand, Fabio had a successful operation and good rehabilitation so far. Firstly, after the needed time off the bike to fully recover from the operation, he was able to start riding indoors at low intensity for 30 minutes per day, and we’ve steadily built that up," Dr. Aldershoff added.
"Recently, he’s been able to return to training outside a bi,t which is great, but still at a lower intensity than is required to build up the base again for a three-week Grand Tour.”
After completing the AlUla Tour and UAE Tour, Jacobsen pulled out of Paris-Nice on stage 5, having a tough time early on the hilly course and was one of the first riders to be dropped out of the peloton. He did not finish the Bredene Koksijde Classic or Brugge-De Panne and then had the double artery surgery.
"I was dreading the operation, because it was another major procedure. But the worst is behind us now, and everything is going in a straight line," the winter of six Grand Tour stages told NOS.
"The operation was successful, but you lose eight weeks of fitness. You have to build that up again. Then the conclusion is that the Tour comes too early. I dreamed of the Vuelta, which starts on August 23. But I'm advised against it."
The 28-year-old now looks to return to the peloton in the final weeks of the season, noting Tour of the Netherlands or Tour of Guangxi, both taking place October 14-19.
