Tour of Poland

[MattH]

Just watched today's race.

Fabio Jakobsen fighting for his life after crash, says doctor who treated him

no words.

[giropaul]

In an induced coma. Groenewegen DQd and reported for further action and his team has started an internal investigation.
The finish area was very poorly designed, with unstable barriers.

[Ivo]

In an induced coma. Groenewegen DQd and reported for further action and his team has started an internal investigation.
The finish area was very poorly designed, with unstable barriers.

The barriers stopped nothing, Jakopbsen went right through them only to be stopped by some solid object.
Some riders already before the race complained that the finish straight was downhill down a narrow road. Riders reportedly hit 80km/h in this sprint.
Don't watch the footage if you have a weak stomach, it's horrific.

[Ivo]

Just one of the quotes about the finish by Simon Geschke:

Every year the same silly downhill sprint in the @Tour_de_Pologne.
Every year i ask myself why the organisation thinks it‘s a good idea. Bunch sprints are dangerous enough, you don’t need a downhill finish with 80kph!

[citoyen]

The finish area was very poorly designed, with unstable barriers.

Interesting. I've not seen the footage (and don't want to) but I couldn't help feeling from the tone of the reports that Groenewegen was being made a bit of a scapegoat.

Not to excuse Groenewegen - it does sound like he was riding dangerously and would have deserved to be disqualified even without the injuries to Jakobsen.

Anyway, very sad to hear this. Thoughts with Jakobsen.

[Sergeant Pluck]

The finish area was very poorly designed, with unstable barriers.

Interesting. I've not seen the footage (and don't want to) but I couldn't help feeling from the tone of the reports that Groenewegen was being made a bit of a scapegoat.

He clearly and knowingly ran Jakobsen into the barriers.

[DuncanM]

He deliberately ran Jacobsen into the barriers, right on the finish line. Jacobsen went through the barrier and looked like he hit the huge supports for the finish line gantry. Definitely a bad setup, definitely bad riding, horrific results.
The picture here shows how he moved over quite clearly (you have to click through further to see the crash, the image just shows the body position of the riders beforehand): https://cyclingtips.com/2020/08/horrifying-sprint-crash-in-poland-sends-multiple-people-to-hospital/

[MattH]

Have to agree with citoyen. He did ride badly, but the barriers should not have disintegrated and flown into the path of the oncoming riders as they did. How many times have we seen someone ride into or get pushed into barriers on a sprint finish?  I've never seen them destroyed like that.

News this morning is a bit more hopeful with no signs of brain damage. It's a reminder of mortality, and that actions of a moment can have life changing or ending consequences. Everything is crossed for him here.

[simonp]

Any news on the official?

[MattH]

Not heard anything other than that he went to hospital - one report suggested in the air ambulance.

I'm hoping that no mention of him means he is OK. There were a couple of points yesterday where I feared for the officials - in one section they had islands in the middle of road, with massive pads covering the signs. That meant that the guy flagging and whistling had to stand in front, where if things went wrong he'd be squashed - and there'd already been a crash around one of those earlier. Normally we'd park the bike behind and in line with the bollard, and stand behind it ourselves to give some protection (and give the riders a few extra inches in case things do go wrong).

Ignoring this incident, I don't know if there is something fundamentally wrong with that course (there were a lot of crashes), or if the riders are just twitchy and out of practice riding under race conditions.

[JonBuoy]

Any news on the official?

From www.cyclingnews.com:

Race director Czeslaw Lang confirmed that the official suffered a head injury and is now in stable condition.

Also:

We also know the state of health of the judge who also suffered a lot in the accident. - Andrzej Lewandowski, the judge who was standing at the finish line had a concussion, but is already in good condition, fully conscious, no hematomas - Lang told us.

[giropaul]

Not heard anything other than that he went to hospital - one report suggested in the air ambulance.

I'm hoping that no mention of him means he is OK. There were a couple of points yesterday where I feared for the officials - in one section they had islands in the middle of road, with massive pads covering the signs. That meant that the guy flagging and whistling had to stand in front, where if things went wrong he'd be squashed - and there'd already been a crash around one of those earlier. Normally we'd park the bike behind and in line with the bollard, and stand behind it ourselves to give some protection (and give the riders a few extra inches in case things do go wrong).

Ignoring this incident, I don't know if there is something fundamentally wrong with that course (there were a lot of crashes), or if the riders are just twitchy and out of practice riding under race conditions.

The parcourse was not the originally planned one. It was put together to keep the race away from areas of higher population.
It could have been planned or flagged better though.

[giropaul]

Now been brought out of the coma, and the doctors are hopeful of no permanent damage.