Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen has hit a new roadblock in his up and down career as a pro cyclist, as his Picnic-PostNL team announced Monday that he will undergo surgery in both legs that will force him to stop racing with immediate effect, with a return date TBD.
The issue, according to team doctor Camiel Aldershof, is "flow limitation of the iliac arteries." The iliac arteries are large blood vessels on either side of the pelvis that supply blood to the pelvic organs and legs. When flow is restricted, it can cause pain and weakness in the lower extremities, including harming the ability to produce power.
"I trained well this winter and came into the season with some confidence," Jakobsen said in the release announcing the news. "We picked up some top ten results at UAE Tour and Paris-Nice, but when it came to those key moments and high intensity sprint efforts I suffered; my legs simply weren’t working as they should.”
Dr. Aldershof did not name the exact medical condition in Jakobsen's case, but a syndrome called ilial arterial endofibrosis – a narrowing and thickening of the iliac arterial walls – is more common among cyclists than the general population. A number of high-profile pro racers have dealt with the condition. Whether Jakobsen is dealing with IAE or another issue, Dr. Aldershof said that, "Thankfully, he has a more favourable prognosis to return due to the type of limitation." Jakobsen is set for surgery on both sides of his body Wednesday, April 2.
However, the surgery also requires a six-week period with no physical activity before Jakobsen can return to training. And only then will it be certain whether surgery has corrected the problem. As such, his team said, his return to competition depends on his recovery.
Jakobsen, of course, is well-acquainted with long recoveries. In August 2020 he suffered horrific, life-threatening injuries in a crash at the Tour of Poland that kept him out of racing until April 2021, but recovered to win three stages and the points classification at that year's Vuelta a España. "It’s mentally of course a setback, but now that we have found the cause of the issue, I am hopeful that the surgery can then solve it," he said of his latest challenge. "Sometimes you need to take one step back to be able to make two forward, and I hope that’s what I’m going to do now."
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