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Turin (AP) - Bad boy Dylan Groenewegen is very humble before his first bike race after a nine-month ban.

“The question is how the other drivers react to me.

I will accept any emotion, ”said the Dutchman before his comeback at the Giro d'Italia on Saturday.

The sprinter is aware that he will be the focus of the second most important tour in the world.

"I think my presence will be closely examined in the near future."

Groenewegen pushed his compatriot Fabio Jakobsen into a barrier on August 5th last year on the first stage of the Tour of Poland in a downhill sprint in Katowice at more than 80 kilometers per hour.

Jakobsen was in an artificial coma and had to be operated on several times.

After the fall, he only had one tooth of his own and had to be sewn with 130 stitches on his face.

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Gronewegen was then blocked for nine months.

Such a severe sanction had never existed for such an offense.

The ban expires one day before the start of the Giro.

«The training is going well.

I reach a high level every time.

But the question is how I manage mentally in Italy, ”says Groenewegen, who was one of the best sprinters in the world before his suspension, on the homepage of his Jumbo Visma racing team.

He won four stages in the Tour de France, and the 27-year-old has a total of 53 professional victories.

Will there be victory number 54 in the Giro?

"It helped that Fabio is back on the bike and that he did well in Turkey," emphasizes Groenewegen, although his former sprint rival was not yet competitive.

In the meantime, both drivers have spoken out.

Nothing was known about the content.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210506-99-498526 / 3

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Giro homepage

Groenewegen statements on the team homepage