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Jacob’s struggling comeback from below

September 8, 2023
By Kasper Konggaard

Concept builder Jacob Ørholm survived in 2021 a violent bicycle accident in Mallorca. For years later became his way back to life the foundation of Denmark’s new cycling clothing brand Willing Able. Mallorca, Easter 2021. A cozy trip like so many others. Jacob Ørholm and the friends were on their way back, when the trip on a Mallorcan descent comes to an abrupt end. Around a bend comes Jacob too far into the opposite lane and hits an oncoming car.
Jacob lies lifeless and for a moment his heart stops the hot asphalt. The ambulance rescuers bring Jacob back to life and 2 hours later he is stable enough to be transported to the hospital in Palma. “I don’t remember anything from the stay in Palma. I returned in March and tried to recall something, precisely because I nothing remember.” he tells about the time in the hospital. For the next 30 hours he hovers between life and death, hard taken of external brain haemorrhages, resulting in impaired oxygen uptake, 3 broken neck vertebrae, a broken back and broken collarbone. “During all that time, my brother-in-law is by my side. My good friend Brian Holm gets later sent a doctor from Quick-Step to Palma.

A neuro doctor from SOS International has since followed me home to Denmark, as I am stable enough to make the trip.” Back home in Denmark, Jacob goes to rehabilitation at Bispebjerg Hospital, but the rehabilitation goes slowly and with 6 weeks of hospitalization. “Here the seriousness began to dawn on me; Missed by my girls. The fear of not being able to come back and be their father again. Next, the physical implications. In week 3 I went on a treadmill for the first time wearing suspended braces. I remember that day hard and clear.” The basic cognitive functions return quickly, but the critical last percentages are delayed and Jacob is diagnosed with a clinical brain injury. Still, Jacob perseveres and soon returns to work at Argon 18. But it’s a tight deadline. On his palmares, he can, among other things, write originator of the iconic national jersey with the black shorts and warm red jerseys,that was designed for the Rio Olympics. It has since then replaced the pink suit and was displayed in the most beautiful way at the WC in Glasgow this summer. The love for cycling arose already at the age of 10, and a victory in Tidaholm as a 16-year-old stands clearest among the childhood memories with the junior national team.

But in a time when cycling was also characterized by unequal competition, Jacob went cold in licensed cycling and pursued a career in the advertising industry as an Art Director in the 00s. The urge to create and the love for cycling could not be suppressed. Together with his friend Brian Holm, Jacob started the cycling community Kong P, and later he became a creative assistant at Flamme Rouge. Life as an exerciser also brought ‘victories’ with it and after being knocked off Mario Cipollini himself in 2010, Jacob Ørholm could step onto the top step of the podium in the Ritter Classic the following year.

Willing Able
21 months after the accident in Mallorca, almost by chance, Christian Poulsen, partner in Konggaard, came across a SoMe post and saw a match between the team wear mammoth Xtreme and Jacob Ørholm’s creative urge. It gave birth to Denmark’s new cycling clothing brand Willing Able, who is the personification of Jacob Ørholm’s fight back to life and the bicycle.”I will return 100% creatively and then meet Konggaard. Together with them I start up Willing Able, which is obviously the essence of my backpack. With their In 2013, the urge to create again took hold of Jacob, who together with 3 friends founded Cue Normal Studios, which would later turn out to be a global success. But in 2016, Jacob had to leave the project to devote his time to his family, and the collaboration with Pas Normal ended long before it the fashion brand really took off. This was followed by a stay at Argon 18 as Global Brand Director in Montreal. The consequences of the accident in Mallorca left their mark, and the job at Argon 18 ended, when Jacob were unable to handle a full-time job in two time zones. Long-standing history with the Italian textile manufacturers, we have succeeded in creating a brand that can offer high quality and design at a price that is more in fair sync with the cost price.
The ambition behind Willing Able is to create a cycling clothing brand that can eventually become a cultural bearer and sponsor in the sport, but at a level where more people have the opportunity to participate than many of the current high-end brands.

For Jacob Ørholm, Willing Able is the way back to cycling and in a way also the roots. This year I could finally stand up riding. But as recently as July, I crashed on a trip with Holm. All things are experienced in a manic pinball game. Maybe I would have crashed anyway? That is precisely why the collaboration with Konggaard gives me peace of mind. They are experienced riders and have tried to compete themselves. It gives me important security. The next 3 years will be exciting. I am finally together with Konggaard became ready to set new goals for success. I ride hard and rather fall over, to take a few steps back and start there, than give up and lay down.” concludes Jacob Ørholm.