Various teams, riders and former riders have reacted on social media to Deceuninck-QuickStep rider Fabio Jakobsen's crash during the bunch-sprint finish to stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne on Wednesday, when the Dutch road race champion appeared to be forced into the barriers by Dylan Groenewegen, who was later disqualified by the race jury.
Groenewegen was judged to have deviated from his line in the sprint, and his Jumbo-Visma team wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening that "crashes like this should not happen", offering their apologies, and saying that they "will discuss internally what has happened before we may make any further statement".
Understandably, there was a strong reaction from Jakobsen's own Deceuninck-QuickStep squad, with manager Patrick Lefevere going as far as suggesting that Groenewegen should be jailed for his manoeuvre. One of Lefevere's riders – overall pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel – called for a life suspension, according to HLN.be on Wednesday evening, although the tweet appeared to have later been taken down.
Other Deceuninck-QuickStep riders offered their teammate Jakobsen messages of support, including Iljo Keisse, who wrote that he didn't know many other riders as strong as Jakobsen. and that his thoughts were with him and his family, as well as the members of the team in Poland.
Team member Yves Lampaert – who broke his collarbone earlier the same day in a crash at Milano-Torino – also urged 'Fabke' in a tweet to "win this battle".
"Everybody is praying for you," the former Belgian road race champion wrote.
A number of other riders also came down in the crash, including Groenewegen, while American rider Neilson Powless escaped with "road rash" and had been cleared to race on stage 2 on Thursday, according to his EF Pro Cycling team, who also offered their thoughts to Jakobsen and the others involved in the crash.
"Let's pray for my friend, Fabio Jakobsen," tweeted former Deceuninck teammate Philippe Gilbert, now at Lotto Soudal, while Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali wrote: "Forza, Fabio Jakobsen. Stay strong."
Trek-Segafredo sports director, and former pro, Steven de Jongh, wrote that his thoughts were with Jakobsen "and his family and loved ones", and former rider Lance Armstrong also offered his "thoughts and prayers", urging the Dutch road race champion to "hang in there".
Lotto Soudal veteran Thomas De Gendt perhaps best summed up the general feeling, tweeting: "On days like this, the only thing you can do is call your wife and kids and say you love them."
