Fabio Jakobsen has traded the tried-and-trusted sprint trains of Soudal-Quickstep for lesser-known combinations at Team DSM-Firmenich-PostNL, but the Dutchman is optimistic as he prepares to overcome what he expects to be a bit of a learning curve.
Speaking to a small group of media from the team's training camp in Spain, Jakobsen laid out his plans to build toward his main goal of winning stages at the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.
"I will start to season in the Tour of Oman, then do a long block in the Middle East to connect the UAE Tour after that, then go to Paris-Nice and the one-day WorldTour race in De Panne and then build up towards the Giro with the Tour of Turkey," Jakobsen said. "And after the Giro I'll do the Tour of Belgium in preparation for the Tour de France."
Jakobsen spent the first six seasons of his career with Quickstep, developing into a formidable Grand Tour sprint presence even after his life-threatening crash at the Tour de Pologne in 2020. After winning three stages and the points classification at the Vuelta a España in 2021, he made his Tour de France debut in 2022, winning stage 2 before suffering to make it through the mountains.
This year's Tour went even worse, after a heavy crash on stage 4 he struggled through his injuries before finally dropping out winless on stage 12. This year, he has one goal above all else.
"I hope to stay on the bike," he said. "If I didn't crash on the racetrack, I would have been good to win a stage in the Tour last year. I had a good shape before and I had a good shape after it's just when you go down like that top shape's gone.
"So that's the first goal of the Giro and the Tour - to stay on the bike. With this train, if we take all the experience from all the riders and start with the intention to make it better, especially in the first part of the season - I think by the time we get to Giro and Tour, we'll do a few things right."
Jakobsen pointed to a group of seven or eight potential lead-out train members including recruits Bram Welten from Groupama-FDJ and Timo Roosen from Jumbo-Visma. He will also be able to count on Julius van den Berg, along with an established group of fast men - Nils Eekhoff, John Degenkolb, Alex Edmondson, and Tobias Lund - in a competitive lead-out train.
"I don't expect it to be successful from the first day we race but it could be that we are and then it's a good start," he said. "If it's not, then we're going to build from there on. Right now we are just training physically, getting to know each other, working with each other and discussing a bit about what a strategy could be."
Taking on Philipsen
One important aspect of the strategy will be how to beat last year's stand-out sprinter, Jasper Philipsen, who benefitted from a series of stellar lead-outs from Mathieu van der Poel. Jakobsen isn't focussed only on Philipsen but takes heart from having beaten him in the past, in particular days before the 2023 Tour de France.
"I beat him once in Tour of Belgium, which was just before the Tour. So I know it's possible - it will be difficult, of course. The year before he didn't beat me. This year. I did once, so maybe next year it can turn again. He is for sure the guy that everybody will look at and will try to follow but I'm not focused on [Philipsen] fully. It will be always a matter of who's the fastest. And I like to be the fastest."
Jakobsen recognises that he's at the start of a three-year process of building the sprint team around him, and is ready to take more responsibility in giving his input and working to find the best formula.
"We all know that it's a building process, I signed with this team for three years. That's because I know we're at the start of a journey. You've got to deal with a few bumps and we won't be successful all along the way. In cycling, there's nobody who's winning more than they are losing."
New challenge
This season will be the first time that Jakobsen has done more than a single Grand Tour in a season, and it's something he feels will make him stronger. Although he left his former Quickstep colleagues to chase after the general classification at the Tour de France with Remco Evenepoel, he appreciated the experience he gained over the past six seasons.
"I was fortunate to start my career there when I was 21 - I got six years to see and learn from some of the best mentors in cycling especially when it comes to to building that lead-out train, starting with four directors like Tom Steels and then the riders like Keisse, Morkov, Sabatini, but even classic riders like Nikki Terpstra and Yves Lampaert, who who shared their experience with me back then.
"I learned what it's like to be at the end of lead-out train and to try and guide it in the pre-race meetings and in the evaluation. So I will try to do the same here. Of course, it's a young team with a few young riders but we also bring some experience now with Timo Roosen and Bram Welton and I think we'll have a good group to build that lead-out train.
"A lot of the guys feel a bit like younger brothers - they're eager to learn, they have a lot of energy - still inexperienced but motivated to perform. And I think that's what it's all about in cycling and especially in the lead-out train because I need those guys and we need each other to be able to perform in the races."
The transition wasn't just to a new team, it meant Jakobsen had to make big changes to equipment after years of racing with Specialized's gear. Now, he's racing on Scott bikes with Shimano shoes, and said the change in fit and especially, getting his shoes just right, was the hardest part.
"It's not been smooth. But what can you expect if you change two big components? I had some problems with the insoles and the shoes - after six years on the same setup, changing one of the most important contact points with the bike ... is something that scares most riders. But that's been smooth. It's just been a bit of fine-tuning with the shoes. But I've been able to do all the training and both the first camp and now I'm there at the second camp without any problems."
