Fabio Jakobsen: If you don't have fear, you're just reckless

In the gladiatorial world of sprinting, fear can often be perceived as a weakness, fearlessness as a virtue. But Fabio Jakobsen is unafraid to say that, sometimes, he is afraid.

"There's always fear. If you don't have fear, then you're just reckless," says the Dutch sprinter. "Or you're stupid."

Understandably, Jakobsen might feel fear when sprinting along a packed road at 70km/h, given the Tour de Pologne crash that nearly cost him his life in 2020. Not that his results would show it. After a stunning 2021 comeback - tentative at first, barnstorming by the end - Jakobsen picked up where he left off in 2022, winning his first Tour de France stage among a total of 15 victories.

The 26-year-old has come to realise that fear is not a detrimental emotion but one that can be harnessed for good.

"Sprinting - and cycling in general - is dangerous. We all crash, we all have moments where we experience fear, but they're the moments where you can even be careful, cautious, and make sure you stay on the bike. It's also where you show a bit of courage, where you can overcome that fear.

"There's always fear," he repeats. "If you do not experience that, I think you are reckless."

Recklessness is a trait increasingly associated with the modern peloton, with older riders often bemoaning a perceived lawlessness in the peloton. Jakobsen, however, feels that sprinting is in a safer place since his crash, although it could be safer still.

"I don't think it has gotten more dangerous. After what happened with me, most riders at least know now what can happen if it goes wrong," he argued.

"I think finishes are getting a little bit safer. Not all of them. As a sprinter, I would always prefer a last straight line of 400-500 metres, without any slight bends, so that it's clear: one straight line to the finish.

"I have the impression the sprinters watch out a little better - at least I do. I'm a bit more careful. Winning a bike race is nice, but I don't want to end up on the tarmac for a race win."

The Jakobsen of 2018 and 2019 may not have gone so far as to contradict that last statement, but it's fair to say he was more tunnel-visioned as he made his spectacular first steps as a pro. The 2022 season showed that the 26-year-old is back to the sprinter he was before his crash, but there has been a significant change in mindset.

"You could say I became 10 years wiser in one year. I don't feel older but I've got a different outlook on life," he says.

"I still love cycling and enjoy racing but there's so much more, and right now I'm experiencing a lot more balance in life. OK, cycling is still big but family, friends, my wife... they're even bigger than that. I try to combine the two and be happy.

"I still would prefer not to have had the crash but there are some positive things coming from it. I try to look at it like that. I think I dealt with it quite well, and I'm sitting here happy."

'You're only the fastest for one day'

Jakobsen is sitting here as the European champion, not to mention as a Tour de France stage winner. But is he the fastest in the world?

The Dutchman won the most races of any sprinter in 2022 and would be seen by many as the world's fastest. However, other riders won bigger races, which is why he was only fifth in Cyclingnews' annual ranking of sprinters.

"If you look at pure speed and the way I win my sprints, not many guys can pass me once I start," Jakobsen says, making the case for himself.

"You're only the fastest for one day, and it's hard to compare, but overall, if you look at the races I won... the number was the highest, and at the European Champs where most of Europe's sprinters were active, I was fastest. So for sure, I would put myself in the top three and on a really good day I think I can be the fastest."

As for the competition, the European Championships showed just how many riders were queuing up to vie for that crown.

"Last year, Jasper Philipsen was very successful, he's a guy to watch. Of course, Dylan Groenewegen, Wout van Aert you always need to watch, Mads Pedersen was also strong. I expect Caleb Ewan to come back - didn't have his best season. Sam Bennett ended quite high in the Vuelta. There are many sprinters you need to watch."

No plans to work on climbing

If there was one thing that perhaps held Jakobsen back in 2022 it was his climbing. The images of him crawling up the cruelly steep final ramp of Peyragudes altiport at the 2022 Tour de France - just in front of the broom wagon and just inside the time cut - were among the most memorable from the Pyrenees.

There's an argument to be made for sprinters to improve their climbing not only to get over more hills and contest more finishes but also to get through Grand Tour mountains fresher and better placed to sprint later on. However, Jakobsen argues that this would come with the risk of dulling his top-end speed - something he's not prepared to sacrifice.

"As a sprinter, your focus should always be to be the fastest sprinter," he says.

"Of course, everyone remembers the stage I just finished within the time cut, and this is something I don't want, but on the other hand, if you want to be the fastest over 250 metres flat, you're probably going to be the slowest on longer climbs of one hour.

"I'll try to hit the same level again in the sprints or be even better, and keep the climbing where it is, which is just good enough to finish."

This theme also feeds into Jakobsen's springtime ambitions, which seem bigger than ever this year. The reigning champion of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, he possesses enough firepower for the most sprint-friendly of Classics, but the likes of Gent-Wevelgem and Milan-San Remo remain elusive.

"I dream about San Remo but I think the Cipressa is for now too hard. They do 10 minutes all-out, and last year there were 26 riders on the top. I am not one of 26 in the WorldTour peloton. We need to wait for other conditions, maybe a headwind on Cipressa.

"But you never know in cycling. If I'm in good shape team will always send me. I dream about it."

Jakobsen's season - which starts at Vuelta a San Juan this month and swaps Paris-Nice for Tirreno-Adriatico - won't be defined by the spring, but by the summer.

After last year's polemics in the sprinting stable alongside Mark Cavendish, he's keen not to anoint himself as the team's lead sprinter ahead of new recruit and Belgian champion Tim Merlier. But it's clear that, barring a dramatic downturn in form, Jakobsen will lead the line at the Tour, where he's hoping to go one better than in 2022.

"It's hard to win a stage in the Tour. I was only involved in three sprints last year. One, I had bad luck with positioning in the last corner, the other one I lost the chain on Champs Elysées. So one win out of three is not bad," he said.

"This year's Tour is more sprint friendly, so hopefully there will be five sprints. I always say if you can win one you can win two so that's the goal for this year."