Tom Dumoulin tells Eurosport how his team Jumbo-Visma can match Ineos and dominate races, including the Dauphine and Tour de France.
2019 did not go Tom Dumoulin’s way.
On stage one at the Tour de l’Ain, in Dumoulin’s first race in 420 days, the Dutchman rode a near-perfect sprint lead-out for Roglic, finishing fourth on the stage with his teammate narrowly pipped on the line by Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Andrea Bagioli. In June, Dumoulin First race in 420 days!
At the Tour de France, Dumoulin and Roglic and Kruijswijk will each vie for the chance to win the sport’s most famous race.
I’m also ready,” said Roglic, a two-time Tour stage winner who finished fourth overall in 2018.“We start on Saturday and I’ll just try to do my best and we’ll see how it goes.“Everyone starting on Saturday starts from the same position so everyone has the chance to win but the fact is that the strongest guy will win.“Looking to Tom, I think he’s made big steps and he’s ready to be at his best here.
Last week’s Tour de l’Ain was the first time the Dutchman has turned a pedal in anger since June 2019, and his first race in the colours of Jumbo-Visma. “The final was hectic, but that’s just like skiing, you don’t forget it,” Dumoulin said afterward. We just have to make sure that we’re the best of them.”Jumbo-Visma had planned to be at the Tour with three potential leaders in Dumoulin, Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk, with George Bennett and Wout van Aert part of a powerful supporting cast.However, Kruijswijk has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, while Roglic – the 2019 Vuelta a Espana winner who looked like being their most likely challenger – suffered a heavy crash while leading the Criterium du Dauphine earlier this month.Roglic will be on the start line in Nice on Saturday at least, but his condition is unclear.“The thing is I’m here and I’m at the start. Joining VeloClub not only supports the work we do, there are some fantastic benefits:Tom Dumoulin’s 2019 season came unravelled at 6 km to go in the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia. Tom Dumoulin's return to professional bike racing will not happen until April as illness forces him to skip Milan-San Remo and Tirreno-Adriatico. 00:01:21, 14 views, 09/08/2020 at 17:15 What's On Behind him, Ineos splintered and Bernal yo-yoed off the back, and Dumoulin kept pedalling on, his face showing an almost monastic calm.
“The winner after one a and a half weeks isn’t the real winner of the Tour de France.“That’s not a Tour de France, that’s a 10-day race.
“If it turns out that I am stronger than Primoz and Steven, then I have a world-class team to support me to try to win the Tour.”Two months later and one race down, Dumoulin’s had his first taste of the potential of his team. The Tour de France is a different beast to the Tour de l’Ain, but there is reason enough for optimism – for a strong result for Dumoulin himself, but for an end to Team Ineos’ stranglehold too. I hope we can go further in Dauphine and the Tour.”Like CyclingTips? Tom Dumoulin has dismissed suggestions the Tour de France will come down to a straight fight between Jumbo-Visma and the Ineos Grenadiers. After pulling off to let George Bennett take the final turn, setting Roglic up for the stage win, Dumoulin rode on to the summit, eighth on the stage and 11th overall. In doing so, he proved that after a challenging year away from the peloton, he’s most of the way back.
He abandoned the next day, recovered enough to start the Criterium du Dauphine a month later, but dropped out before it finished. Rather than challenging for grand tour success, the 29-year-old spent much of the year in hospitals, rehab clinics and full of uncertainty over his future. “I couldn’t have wished for a better test.”On stage three, Dumoulin was again prominent, leading a dwindling peloton up the Col du Grand Colombier. “It is amazing to be part of this team.
I’m very excited to start in Tour de l’Ain today???? 58.2k Followers, 26 Following, 27 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Tom Dumoulin (@t.dumoulin) At a roundabout, the peloton toppled like dominoes on both sides of the road, sending Dumoulin to the ground.A chainring slashed his left leg deeply, and as he gingerly pedalled across the finish line, he was flanked by five Sunweb teammates with a crimson stream running down his leg. It’s a lot nicer now to have such a strong guy in the team and we’ll try and do the best that we can.”The Tour will get under way against a backdrop of a rising number of coronavirus cases in France, and questions over whether the circus will actually reach its final destination in Paris.But Dumoulin said the riders could not afford to think like that, and there would be no plan to try to take the yellow jersey early in case the race was curtailed.“We don’t have a strategic plan to be in the lead in case the race stops after one and a half weeks,” he said.
Primoz Roglic claimed the final stage and with it, the overall win; Egan Bernal looked embattled amidst a crumbling, tactically lacklustre Ineos squad. Tom Dumoulin’s 2019 season came unravelled at 6 km to go in the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia.
We’re preparing for a Grand Tour and we want to win the Tour de France.”Tom Dumoulin spoke to Daniel Friebe about his team's win on stage 4 and disappointment with his own legsTadej Pogačar spoke to Daniel Friebe on a brilliant day for Slovenia at the Tour de FranceDaniel Friebe spoke to Adam Yates after stage 4 of the Tour de FranceBy using this site, you agree we can set and use cookies.
Tom Dumoulin has labelled the opening descent of the Critérium du Dauphiné's fourth stage a 'disgrace' after teammate Steven Kruiswijk crashed out of the race. “It’s going to be a battle between a lot of riders.“At least 20 riders are on the start line with hopes of winning or being on the podium. I’ve never been in a team this strong,” Dumoulin enthused on Sunday. In Ain last week, on the slopes of the Jura mountains, two tridents of Grand Tour titans went head to head – Jumbo-Visma’s GC line-up of Primoz Roglic, Steven Kruijswijk and Dumoulin, and Team Ineos’ Tour-winning trio of Egan Bernal, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas. “All three of us get the chance to prove ourselves but eventually we will ride for the one who turns out to be the strongest,” Dumoulin said in June, before racing resumed.