DUTCH CYCLIST FABIO Jakobsen has months of convalescence ahead after the life-threatening crash which left him with only one tooth and requiring 130 stitches, his team said on Thursday.
Jakobsen suffered severe facial injuries in the Tour of Poland first stage accident on 5 August and had to undergo lengthy surgery.
“They (doctors) took out 130 facial stitches. He’s only got one tooth, his palate is still not healed and one of his vocal chords is still paralysed,” his Deceuninck-Quick Step team manager Patrick Lefevere reported.
“He is still not able to breathe properly,” Lefevere added in a statement.
The 23-year-old Jakobsen was placed in a medically-induced coma and underwent a five-hour operation, regaining consciousness two days later.
His teammate Remco Evenepoel went on to win the race in Poland before himself suffering a bad fall in the Tour of Lombardy in Italy.
“He (Jakobsen) is in a much worse condition than Remco Evenepoel. Remco’s fractures should heal within six weeks, according to the doctors, but with Fabio Jakobsen they are talking about a recovery period of several months,” said Lefevere.
