Cycling-Cavendish backs Jakobsen to return to best form after crash

Deceuninck NV

02/03/2021 04:32

March 2 (Reuters) - Briton Mark Cavendish praised
Deceuninck-Quick Step team mate Fabio Jakobsen's recovery
efforts following a horrific crash in last year's Tour of Poland
and backed the Dutch rider to return to his best form.
    Jakobsen was put in a medically induced coma last August
after a collision with Dylan Groenewegen as they sprinted to the
finish on the first stage of the race.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2F77B1
    The 24-year-old crashed into the barriers and collided with
a race official. He was taken to hospital and underwent facial
surgery but is now back on his bike.
    "He's going to come back at a very high level," former world
champion Cavendish said. "Judging by how he's been going over
the winter, and the work he's been putting, in I'm pretty
confident.
    "To see the commitment he's putting in, I'm proud of him."
    Cavendish, 35, who has won 30 stages on the Tour de France
and is considered one of the best sprinters in the event's
history, has not won a race since Feb. 2018 when he prevailed in
the third stage of the Dubai Tour.

 (Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; editing by Richard
Pullin)
 ((Manasi.Pathak@thomsonreuters.com;))