Since his life-or-death crash and injury at the 2020 Tour de Pollogne, Fabio Jacobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) has experienced many "landmark moments."

The 25-year-old acknowledged his Tour de France debut as such at QuickStep-AlphaVinyl's pre-race press conference, along with sporting director Tom Steels and Casper Asgreen.

Asgreen admitted that since his crash and abandonment in the Tour de Suisse, his chances of winning yellow in Friday's time trial have been considerably reduced. But he nonetheless promised to give 100%.

Meanwhile, Jacobsen said of his participation in the Tour de France, "I'm excited, but I'm not satisfied yet.

Asked directly how it felt to ride alongside the world's top sprinters, given what he had overcome from Poland, Jacobsen defined his feeling as "a dream come true."

"I think most cyclists go through something big in their career. I had my fair share, or maybe a few more," he told reporters.

"I'm very happy to be here, but that's not why I started racing. I started racing because I want to win,

"So I'm super excited, but I'm not happy yet.

Sport director Tom Steels won several flat stages of the Tour de France during his time as a racer. For Fabio to win, he would have to be the sharpest (of the sprinters).

But he said he is confident in his team's ability to set up a group sprint, even without tireless domestique Tim El Tractor Declercq. The Belgian was unable to race because he tested positive for COVID-19. He is also confident that Jacobsen will finish first.

Jacobsen did not add anything to these comments, only adding, "I have less experience than anyone else at this table, so I just follow what Tom says," but the Dutchman was more candid about how to get through the mountain stages without falling outside the time limit He said, "I'm not a good rider, I'm a good rider.

"If you are fastest in the last 250 meters of the sprint, you are probably the slowest on the long climbs," he reasoned.

"That's a given, and you'll have to fight harder than on sprint day. [I expect him to lead us past Galibier, Croix de Fer, and Alpe d'Huez."

"It's easy, just keep pushing," Asgreen interjected jokingly.

"It's always stressful, but it's part of our sport," Jacobsen concluded, analyzing how he handles the mountains.

"We don't look forward to the climbing days, and we may have to fight even harder than we do on the sprint days. But that's part of the Tour, and if you have to cross all the mountains, it makes it more beautiful to get to Paris."

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Jacobsen and Stiels preferred a stage win to starting the Tour's Maillot Vert battle from the beginning, despite the Dutchman winning the points jersey at last year's Vuelta a España.

But Asgreen, who had high hopes of contending for victory in Friday's opening TT, admitted that a recent crash and injury at the Tour de Suisse made it impossible for him to contest his own stage win and yellow in Copenhagen.

"Unfortunately, that is not a realistic goal," said the three-time national time trial champion. 'I had some small setbacks before the swisse due to my physical condition. On top of that, I even crashed, so it's not a realistic goal."

"I took five or six days off the bike completely and since then I've been improving very fast. I still have two more days, so I expect to be even better on Friday than I was today, and I have no pain or stability issues. So I'm at the starting line. If there was any risk I wouldn't be here."

"But even if we have a base condition between Roubaix and Switzerland, we're a little short on concrete work, and that's a very good thing."

"It's kind of pushed me a little bit mentally, but I'm going to embrace it and focus my energy on getting to the start line.

Asgreen's injury was not enough to ultimately become a DNS, and the controversial omission of Mark Cavendish from the 2022 Tour Quick-Step Alphavinil lineup, sport director Steels, said that leaving defending world champion Julian Alaphilippe off the list was a major dilemma.

"I think Julien's omission from the selection was one of the toughest choices, but we did it specifically for Julien himself. The Tour, let's not forget, is the hardest stage race in the world. Even at 100% it is incredibly hard."

"We also wanted to see Julien shine in other races. Let's not forget that he had a terrible crash in Liège. We knew it would be very tough for him to compete in the Tour, but he didn't make it."

"I think he's a hell of a rider and I wanted to save him for the rest of the season. But it was one of the toughest decisions in the Tour."

What Steels did not doubt, however, was his faith in Jacobsen as a racer and his ability to win Tour stages.

"From the first training camp where I saw him, I knew he had special abilities.

"He has a natural instinct. The Tour is a really tough bike race for sprinters, and there are only seven of them. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do in the last kilometer."

Indeed, when Jacobsen won the fourth stage of the 2021 Vuelta a España, the first Grand Tour stage since his return, he described it as the closing of a chapter. And no one doubts that this Friday, at the 2022 Tour de France, will open a new chapter for him.

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