Jakobsen retires from Giro after heavy crash

Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, who was involved in a violent crash on Wednesday, announced on Thursday that he would not be starting the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia.

"It's a shame to have to leave the race because I was starting to feel better," said the 27-year-old DSM rider.

Jakobsen crashed on Wednesday in the hectic final of stage 11 suffering severe grazing.

His team said "the pain increased during the night" and chose to send him home to recuperate.

Jakobsen suffered life-threating injuries in a crash on the Tour of Poland in 2020 but bounced back to win a stage at the 2022 Tour de France in the colours of Quick Step.

In recent months, he has again suffered a number of crashes and has clocked just a single victory this season in the opening stage of the Tour of Turkey.