It’s been two-and-a-half years since Tom Dumoulin shocked the cycling world with his abrupt retirement. At the time, he was a grand tour classification leader for Jumbo-Visma, a decorated time trial champion, and at 31 years old, still very capable, as proven by his silver medal in the Olympic time trial in Tokyo. But emotionally, he was completely spent. The passion and the hunger for victories had been dimming for some time, and when the Giro d’Italia winner called it quits in August 2021, he seemed lost — crushed by the relentless pressure of a life on the bike that no longer brought him any joy.

Fast forward to today, and the picture looks very different — one filled with new purpose, a variety of projects and a boyhood love for the sport.

When I call the Dutchman, he’s just finishing a walk with his dog and five-month-old son, Oscar, enjoying some quiet family time before heading to America to pin on his first bib number in a while — this time, for some of the biggest gravel races in the world.

Yes, Tom Dumoulin will race Unbound this year, but first, he's headed to Monterey for the Life Time Grand Prix’s opening round later this week at the Sea Otter Classic. But before you start placing bets, he’s quick to clarify that he’s not there to chase podiums.

“I’ll do Unbound,” Dumoulin says casually, as if talking about a Sunday ride, not the world’s most iconic gravel race. “But only the 100-mile race” and “just to experience it. I absolutely have no intention of trying to win the thing.”

Dumoulin is headed to Unbound

While former teammate Laurens ten Dam and the rest of the so-called ‘Dutch Mafia’ are enjoying a second career in gravel racing, Dumoulin will not be following suit.

“Laurens [ten Dam] is still really competitive but that’s absolutely not my goal. The goal is just to enjoy riding a bike, to have fun and to share that message with the people around me and those who follow me,” the 34-year-old says.

He points out that while everyone likes to look up to Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and even himself during his peak years, that level of competitive cycling is attainable for only the very few.

“Most people just get on their bikes twice a week, purely for fun, and now and then they take part in an event and enjoy it. And that’s totally fine, too. Actually, I’m one of them now."

But is he, though?

His recent adventures suggest there’s still a quiet fire. At the Egmond-Pier-Egmond event earlier this year, Dumoulin took on the 'combi race' — a 36-kilometre bike race on sand on Saturday, followed by a half marathon on Sunday — and won.

Dumoulin laughs, admitting that he did “go deep” both those days. “But it’s not like I trained hard for it or followed a structured plan or anything.”

He’s approaching the 90-mile Sea Otter Classic gravel race and the 100-miler at Unbound in a similar fashion.

“Of course, I am not unfit. But I’m definitely not lining up at the start with more than 10 hours of training a week, you know? So I’m well aware that I’m not competing for the prizes. And that’s totally fine.”

Cycling now is purely about joy. If it’s not fun, he won’t do it. He’s done the 30-hour training weeks. He’s won the Giro d’Italia. He’s stood on the podium at the Tour de France.

“I have zero desire to sit on a bike for five hours every day. I’ve done that already — it was beautiful, but now it’s time for other things. That said, I still enjoy being part of those events but I’m not going to win them. And yeah, sometimes that’s a bit hard to accept. But I just don’t want to do the hard work anymore.”

Life After Racing

From co-authoring Op Gevoel (By Feel) to working as an analyst for Dutch broadcaster NOS, to delivering live theatre talks across the Netherlands, Dumoulin has found new ways to stay connected to the sport he once dominated.

In addition to his U.S. gravel appearances, Dumoulin is currently touring the Netherlands with a “theatercollege” based on the book — a uniquely Dutch format blends personal storytelling with a live on-stage interview. In it, he unpacks the beauty and hardships of professional cycling.

On opening night, 1,200 people filled the room to hear one of the nation’s greatest cyclists speak. At one point, Dumoulin stands alone on stage for a 20-minute monologue, recalling the darkest moments of his career — a vulnerable performance he calls both “challenging” and “exciting.”

Alongside his many accomplishments on the bike, this candidness to talk openly about the darker side of elite sports may just be one of his biggest contributions. He started that journey when he briefly stepped away to work on his mental well-being, citing that he had been “unhappy as a cyclist for a year.” Several months later, Dumoulin returned to win the silver medal in the men’s time trial at the 2020 Olympic Games. But the comeback was short-lived. By mid-2022, he cut his final season short, withdrawing from the UCI Road World Championships in Australia, saying his tank was empty.

When asked what he would have done differently in his career, Dumoulin doesn’t hesitate: “I wish I had communicated better.”

The past two-and-a-half years, he says, have been a journey of deep self-awareness.

“I know so much more about what makes me happy, how I function, who I am as a person, what I need from the people around me and what I can give to them when I’m my best self. I wish I had communicated that much earlier with the teams I rode for. I would’ve asked for more autonomy, more freedom within the framework of the team. I think I would’ve performed better with that.”

Reflecting on his final season at Jumbo-Visma, he adds, “The team and I didn’t really make each other better. And that’s a shame. We didn’t get much out of it.”

Dumoulin’s relationship with cycling has been a complex one — one of extreme highs and dangerous lows. Today, though, he has found peace with it. He has rekindled his boyhood love for the sport, and could be seen at the sidelines at the Tour of Flanders, not in service of the NOS but because he simply wanted to be there. As a fan. He still calls cycling “the most beautiful sport there is,” but acknowledges what it cost him. So when asked if he’s hoping little Oscar will follow in his dad’s footsteps, Dumoulin admits he "wouldn’t be jumping for joy.”

“Cycling has brought me so much. I truly gave it my heart and soul. And I still love watching it. But on the other hand, it’s also a very dangerous sport. There are fatal accidents, serious injuries, terrible crashes, and a closed-off world that can sometimes be very businesslike — not always focused on the well-being of the person behind the athlete. So, as a father, I’d probably say: maybe not.”

So when Dumoulin lines up at Sea Otter and Unbound, he’s not chasing ghosts of past performances. He’s not trying to recapture old form or prove anything to anyone — not even himself.

From packed theatre halls in the Netherlands to the gravel start lines in America, he’s riding for something else now: to share the joy of cycling — the feeling that made him fall in love with it all in the first place.

Tom Dumoulin has revealed more details about his struggles on and off the bike after retiring from professional cycling this summer. 

The Dutch Giro d’Italia winner took a break from racing in 2021 in order to focus on his mental health and wellbeing.  

Dumoulin made a triumphant return to professional cycling and won an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics later that year in the men’s individual time trial. But he quit for good in August this year. 

In an interview with Dutch news outlet NRC, Dumoulin has revealed further details of his traumatic 2020 season which sparked his decision to take time away from cycling. 

When discussing the 2020 Tour de France, where he finished seventh, Dumoulin said: “It was really, really awful. I hated cycling so much, and I hated being there so much,”

“Still I was able to help the team and I finished seventh. Seventh! I really don’t understand how that is possible. And then you have to imagine that the world was able to watch during the most unfortunate period of my life,” Dumoulin added.

Earlier this year Dumoulin announced he would retire at the end of 2022 with his final outing as a professional being the recent World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. However after deliberating over his decision, Dumoulin brought his retirement forward in August admitting that “the tank is empty”. 

Three months after his retirement, Dumoulin explained that he has now regained freedom in other areas of his life. 

“For the first time in my life I can fill in everything myself,” he said. “I start with a completely blank page and where I’m going, I have no idea. And I’d like to leave it that way because it feels good,” he added. 

After initially deciding to retire before the World Championships, the Dutch rider still travelled to Australia with family to soak up some of the atmosphere at the championships. 

After reflecting on time spent in Australia, Dumoulin admitted that he may yet return to the world of cycling in a different capacity. 

“I still feel the love for the bike. Maybe one day I'll be a coach, a consultant. But I will stay away from a professional team for a while,” he said.

In 2022 there has been a changing of the guard at the top level of professional cycling. 

Some of the biggest names in the sport have called time on their careers, passing over the torch to the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar as they ride off into the sunset. 

As well as the aforementioned trio, riders like Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel have taken the baton from Philippe Gilbert as being the riders to watch on the Classics scene. 

This year multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali has hung up his wheels after a final hurrah at Il Lombardia and former World Champion Alejandro Valverde has also retired after one final season. 

Valverde’s retirement allows new names to shine in Spanish cycling. For many years, Spanish fans will have wondered when the next big home Vuelta win would come but with talents like Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez stepping into the Valverde shaped gap, that win may not be that far away. 

We’ve put together a breakdown of seven riders who have retired from cycling's top level this year and an assessment of their legacy in the sport. 

VINCENZO NIBALI

The Italian former Grand Tour winner and stage racer supreme announced at this year’s Giro d’Italia that he would be retiring at the end of 2022. 

He leaves a legacy of being arguably the last of the great Italian stage racers, and his palmares comfortably backs up that argument. Three monument titles including two Il Lombardia victories and one Milan-San Remo as well as overall wins at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2012 and 2013 more than speak for themselves. 

The Sicily-born rider is also a two-time Giro d’Italia winner and has seven individual stages to his name. Nibali also won the Tour de France in 2014 and took six individual stage victories at the French Grand Tour during his career. 

Adding in his 2010 Vuelta a España victory to the equation makes him not only one of the last great Italian stage racers, but also one of the all time greatest riders in the sports history.

Few riders of his generation can match the prolific winning record of the “Shark of Messina”.

ALEJANDRO VALVERDE

42-year-old Alejandro Valverde finally retired from the sport's top level with the 2022 Il Lombardia also being his final outing in the WorldTour. Valverde finished a more than respectable sixth in that final race behind winner Tadej Pogačar.

Valverde’s career has been stacked with a huge list of one day race victories including four Liège–Bastogne–Liège victories and five La Flèche Wallonne titles. As well as this the Spaniard is also the 2018 road world champion and won the Vuelta a España in 2009. 

However, the 42-year-olds impressive palmares has a significant black spot which it is impossible to ignore. His involvement in the Operación Puerto doping scandal. 

Valverde received a two-year doping ban in 2010 for his part in the affair and all of his results that year were annulled. Since his doping ban the cycling world has often struggled to look the other way when it came to the Spaniard achieving any further success. 

As a result of this, his legacy in cycling is blemished by his doping offences. 

RICHIE PORTE

Prior to the 2022 Tour of Britain, Richie Porte announced that the British week-long event would be his final racing outing. 

In 2020 the Australian rider left Trek-Segafredo to join Ineos Grenadiers, a team he had previously raced for under the Team Sky name. A high point of Porte’s time at Ineos was his 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné victory.  

Before making a return to the British team, Porte enjoyed a successful spell at Trek-Segafredo which saw him achieve his first ever Grand Tour podium finish. Porte was able to stay with a rampant Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič for much of the 2020 Tour de France meaning that he would eventually finish third overall. 

Throughout the years, Porte’s exploits in the Grand Tour’s leave a more than respectable legacy at the sports top level that other Australian riders will look to emulate. 

With the emergence of riders like Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley and Ineos Grenadiers' Luke Plapp, Australian cycling is in a comfortable place despite Porte's retirement. 

PHILIPPE GILBERT

40-year-old Gilbert retired from cycling after an illustrious career which has seen him win four of the five monuments and stages at all three of cycling’s Grand Tours. 

The Belgian rider was renowned as being one of the best puncheurs in the business and that was backed up with impressive wins at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders as well as the world title in 2012 in the Netherlands. 

One of the main highlights of Gilbert’s career is undoubtedly the four victories he took at the Amstel Gold race in the Netherlands. His world title win came on a similar route to the Dutch one day race and as a result, the Cauberg climb in Holland will long be associated with his cycling exploits. 

Gilbert recently announced that despite the rumours, he will not be taking over as manager of his final professional team Lotto Soudal in 2023. 

Winning four of the five monuments is no mean feat. When you bring his Amstel-Gold victories into the discussion, it’s impossible to consider Gilbert as being anything other than one of the greatest one-day racers of all time. 

LISA BRENNAUER 

German racer Lisa Brennauer retired in August after an impressive career which has seen the 34-year-old win both the individual and team time trial world titles on multiple occasions. 

Brennauer also won the female German national time trial championship on five occasions with 2022 being her final victory. As well as this she also won the German national road title on four occasions. One of her biggest highlights was a gold medal at the rearranged 2020 Olympics in the women’s team pursuit, in which the German team set a new world record. 

On the road the German won the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta race in 2019 and 2020.

Brennauer’s record is pretty incomparable in women’s German cycling, leaving her with a legacy as being arguably the best German female racer there has been to date.  

TOM DUMOULIN 

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin retired in August after a career which has seen him win the Giro d’Italia and multiple time trial titles. 

As well as his accomplishments on the bike, one of Dumoulin’s biggest achievements was also opening up the conversation on mental health and wellbeing in cycling when he decided to take a break from the sport in 2021 after being “unhappy as a cyclist for a year”. 

Several months later, Dumoulin capped his return to the sport with a silver medal in the men’s time trial at the 2020 Olympic games. He then announced that 2022 would be his final year with his last race being the World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. 

During his long career Dumoulin won the Giro in 2017, as well as the Dutch national time trial championships on four separate occasions and his Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. 

He’ll be remembered as a formidable Grand Tour rider who was also brave enough to publicly speak out about the psychological strain of elite competition.

ALEX DOWSETT 

During his long career, Alex Dowsett established a name for himself as being a top-level time trial specialist and one of the best that Great Britain has ever produced. 

He is the record holder for the most British national time trial titles- which he won on six occasions and he also has two Giro d’Italia stage wins to his name which he took in 2013 and in 2020. He also held the official hour record in 2015.

Dowsett suffers from haemophilia, a condition which prevents your blood from clotting, and he set up a charity called ‘Little Bleeders’ with the intention of encouraging young people suffering with the condition to engage with sport. 

The Essex-born rider leaves a legacy as not only being a top level athlete, but also one determined to give something back to the wider community not just focussing on cycling. Something which is of great importance and other top level athletes would do well to emulate on  a more frequent basis. 

Earlier this week Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) announced his immediate retirement from professional cycling. 

The Dutchman is widely considered as being one of the greatest Grand Tour riders of his generation and had initially announced that he would retire at the end of the current season. 

Dumoulin’s intention was to retire after the World Championships in Australia, however the 31-year-old brought forward his retirement to August and said ‘the tank is empty’ and he can no longer continue. 

Dumoulin’s career has seen him win the Giro d'Italia, land multiple Dutch National Time Trial Championship titles and win stages at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. 

Here are three of our favourite moments of the Dutchman’s career.

VUELTA A ESPAÑA 2015, STAGE NINE

Heading into the 2015 Vuelta, bookmakers were offering odds of 1000-1 on Dumoulin winning the race. 

The then Giant-Alpecin rider had shown some signs of future potential in week-long races like the Tour de Suisse and the Eneco Tour, previously finishing high overall at both. However a race like la Vuelta was a whole different ball game altogether. 

As the Spanish Grand Tour rapidly approached, the Dutchman had been thought of by his team as ‘a world class time trialist who’s very good in the hills’ nothing more, although that was about to change. 

The 24-year-old had crashed out of the Tour de France earlier that year meaning he had unfinished business with the big races that season. Giant-Alpecin had arrived in Spain with a team very much supporting their sprinters interests and they weren’t used to the intensity of riding for the general classification. Soon, that would swiftly need to change. 

Stage nine approached providing Dumoulin with an opportunity to take the red jersey as his rivals were beginning to take note of him. The stage featured two ascents of the menacing Cumbre del Sol climb, and Dumoulin was in the group of leaders as they began the first ascent. 

He repeatedly launched attacks looking to isolate the race leader Esteban Chaves, although more experienced climbers like Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Rafal Majka would repeatedly reel him back in. At one point after being caught, he was slightly distanced but a fierce display full of determination and fight ensured he would pull himself back to Froome and the leaders and, in his own words, he then smashed everything out of his legs to move past Froome to land a superb stage victory. 

The Butterfly of Masstricht had the red jersey on his broad shoulders and would very nearly win the Vuelta that year. Eventually finishing sixth.

GIRO D'ITALIA 2017, STAGE 14

After his exploits at some of the world's other biggest races, Dumoulin was finally considered a potential Grand Tour winner when the 2017 Giro d’Italia  got underway. 

The Dutchman had already taken victory on the stage nine individual time trial and was looking comfortable in the Maglia Rosa as the hilly and technical stage 14 arrived, a parcours that on paper was right up his street. 

As the stage reached its finale, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) had disappeared up the road and looked to be on the way to victory. With just over three kilometres left to race, Dumoulin, now riding for Sunweb, decided he wanted the victory in the leader's jersey and would attack from the group of chasers. 

In a dogged display of perseverance, the Dutch rider measured his efforts to pull himself across to Quintana and, after a brief pause, attacking straight over the top of the Colombian. A final acceleration ensured he would keep Quintana at bay to land the stage win. 

Dumoulin continued to do battle with Quintana throughout the rest of the Giro and ultimately came out on top. A barnstorming performance on the stage 21 individual time trial into Milan gave Dumoulin his first Grand Tour victory. Bellissimo indeed. 

TOKYO OLYMPICS 2021, INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIAL

After a period spent away from the sport in order to focus on his mental health and wellbeing Dumoulin would return with a bang. 

In January 2021, Dumoulin announced he had been unhappy as a professional cyclist for a year and his plans to take an indefinite break. 

He said, "I have felt for quite some time, months, maybe even a year actually, that it is very difficult for me to know how to find my way as Tom Dumoulin the cyclist.

"With the pressure that comes with it, the expectations of different parties. I really want to do very well for a lot of people, but that has made me forget myself a little in the past year."

After returning to action, the Dutchman headed to Japan for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics were due to be held in 2020 but were moved to 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Dumoulin then capped off his return to racing with a silver medal in the individual time trial. His Jumbo-Visma teammate Primož Roglič took the gold medal on the Fuji International Speedway Circuit finding redemption for his Tour de France mishap that year. Roglič was beaten by a rampant Tadej Pogačar in the final individual time trial to dramatically lose his Tour de France lead.

“It was a difficult road to get here,” said Dumoulin after the finish. The Dutch rider had already participated in the Tour de Suisse and national championships following his return to action and was in tears after realising he had landed an Olympic medal. 

The Dutchman’s comeback was complete and he was back at the top. 

“I was overtrained in the winter and done with cycling. But I decided to return, especially for this day. I had a goal and I'm proud," added Dumoulin

Stepping back from the rigours of elite level sport and prioritising his mental health earned Dumoulin legions of fans. 

On his retirement, the 31-year-old said, “I look back on my career with incredible pride. I worked hard for it, took a lot of passion and pleasure from it for many years, and delivered brilliant performances. I will never forget that. Now it’s time to enjoy other things and be there for the people I love.”

Chapeau Tom and thank you for the memories. 

Tom Dumoulin has ended his professional cycling career with immediate effect. 

The former Giro d’Italia winner had previously announced that he intended to retire at the end of the current season with his final race being the World Championships in Australia. However, the Jumbo-Visma rider has now decided to bring his retirement from the sport forward to August. 

In a statement released by his team, the 31-year-old confirmed the news and the reasoning behind his decision. 

The statement read: “I decided to quit professional cycling with immediate effect. About two months ago I announced that I would retire as a professional cyclist at the end of the year. During last spring, despite my love for the bike, I noticed that things weren’t going how I wanted. I felt that I was ready for a new phase in my life. But, I still had one project on my wishlist to end my career with a bang; the World Championship in Australia. 

“I wanted to tackle that road to the World Championship the way I tackled the road to the Tokyo Olympics. With a sense of freedom, on my terms, with the support of the team and with my intrinsic motivation as the main fuel. That’s what brought me back the joy of cycling back then. 

“But I notice that I can’t do it anymore. The tank is empty, the legs feel heavy and the training sessions are not working out as I hoped and I also need to do a good performance and have a good feeling at the World Championship. Since my hard crash in training last September, something has broken again. I had to interrupt my efforts to return to my old shape yet again and deal with another disappointment. 

“It was one too many. Even though the farewell didn’t turn out the way I hoped, I look back on my career with incredible pride. I worked hard for it, took a lot of passion and pleasure from it for many years, and delivered brilliant performances. I will never forget that. Now it’s time to enjoy other things and be there for the people I love. A big thank you to my team and everyone who supported me during my fantastic career. And a special thank you to my wife, who had my back all these years.”

Dumoulin signed for Jumbo-Visma in 2020 after a successful spell which included winning the Italian Grand Tour, as well as the World Time Trial Championship in 2017. Over the winter the 31-year-old then took a break from the sport to focus on his mental health and wellbeing. 

After a brief period away, the Dutch rider returned to take a silver medal at the Olympics in the men’s time trial behind Primož Roglič. 

Other previous career highlights include three individual stages at the Tour de France, four Giro d'Italia stages as well as the 2017 overall victory, two stages at the Vuelta a España and four Dutch National Time Trial Championship titles.

Ahead of the 2022 season he had confirmed that the Giro d’Italia was a major target, although once racing got underway he was unable to build momentum and eventually abandoned the race. 

His last race on the road was the recent Clásica de San Sebastián which was won by Remco Evenepoel. 

General manager of Team Jumbo-Visma Richard Plugge paid tribute to the 31-year-old and said: “We are sorry that Tom is ending his career with immediate effect, but we respect his decision. Tom has meant a lot to cycling fans, both in the Netherlands and worldwide. He can be proud of his career. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Tom Dumoulin has announced that he will retire at the end of 2022. In a post on Instagram, the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner said that this year has been a "frustrating path", and that he has chosen to take a "new and unknown" route.

The Jumbo-Visma rider is out of contract at the end of the year, and so a decision on his future was required. There had been rumours that Team BikeExchange-Jayco would sign the Dutchman, but the 31-year-old has decided to leave the sport.

In a lengthy statement on his social media, Dumoulin said: "For a while now there has been a disbalance [sic] between my 100% dedication, everything I do and sacrifice for my sport, and what I subsequently get out of it in return.

"With a lot of patience and a very cautious training approach, I'm convinced that I could get back to my full potential on the bike But that would be a long and patient road, with no guarantees on success. I choose not to take that road, but to quit my active cycling instead and to take a new and unknown path."

The man from Maastricht in the Netherlands turned pro with Project 1t4i in 2012, and was initially regarded as a time-trial specialist, before he emerged as a contender at Grand Tours in 2015 at the Vuelta a España. The following year he won stages at the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.

In 2017, he triumphed at the Giro, the first ever Dutch winner of the Grand Tour, before winning the time trial at the World Championships. Then in 2018, he was close to a special feat, as he was runner-up at both the Giro and the Tour, to Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas respectively. 

He joined Jumbo-Visma from Sunweb in 2020. At the end of the year, Dumoulin took an indefinite break from cycling. His team stood by him, and he said he had become "a little lost".

"I don't know yet what I want to do after my active cycling career, and I also don't really want to know at this moment," he wrote. "But I do know that my love for the bike will always keep me connected to the world of cycling one way or another. I'm very curious what the future will hold for me. I feel happy and grateful and now I already look back on my career with a lot of pride."

At last month's Giro d'Italia, Dumoulin finished third on the stage two time trial in Budapest, which was won by Simon Yates. He went on to support his teammate Koen Bouwman to victory on stage seven, finishing fourth. He pulled out of the Giro on stage 14, in 31st on GC. 

He has 22 professional victories, including nine Grand Tour wins.

The Dutchman said that the team and him would set a good plan for the rest of 2022. "I especially look forward to the World Championships in Australia where I hope to get the best out of myself in the time trial one last time," he wrote.

Tom Dumoulin's full statement

"I [have] decided that 2022 will be my last year as a professional cyclist. In 2020 I had a very difficult year and at the end of that year I got over-trained and burned out. At the end of 2020, beginning of 2021, I was only a shadow of myself and thus decided at the time to take a break away from cycling and to think about my future.

"After a while I decided to continue my cycling career, On the one hand because the Olympic Games in Tokyo were already on my mind for five years and I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity. But on the other hand definitely also because of my love for the hike and the passion that I have for this special cycling world. The world that astonishes me so often, but just as often makes me feel at home. Since that autumn in 2020, I occasionally was still able to show my abilities on the bike. Last year's silver medal being the absolute highlight. I'm really proud of that performance.

"But despite how good it occasionally still was: many times, and especially this year, it has been a frustrating path, at which my body felt tired and still does feel tired. As soon as the load in training or races gets higher, I suffer from fatigue, aches and injuries instead of improving.

"The effort in training did not often lead to the desired performances. For a while now there has been a disbalance [sic] between my 100% dedication, everything I do and sacrifice for my sport, and what I subsequently get out of it in return.

"With a lot of patience and a very cautious training approach, I'm convinced that I could get back to my full potential on the bike. But that would be a long and patient road, with no guarantees on success. I choose not to take that road, but to quit my active cycling instead and to take a new and unknown path.

"The team and I are now going to make a plan to make the most out of the last months. Last months with hopefully still a lot of joy and success. I especially look forward to the World Championships in Australia where I hope to get the best out of myself in the time trial one last time.

"I don't know yet what I want to do after my active cycling career, and I also don't really want to know at this moment. But I do know that my love for the bike will always keep me connected to the world of cycling one way or another. I'm very curious what the future will hold for me. I feel happy and grateful and now I already look back on my career with a lot of pride.

"Last but not least, I want to thank everyone who has been with me on this amazing adventure! To thank everyone who helped me with it and who shared the special moments with me. I want to thank my teammates, sports directors, soignies, mechanics, supporting staff and sponsors who have been there for me over the past years.

"A special thank you to all the cycling fans who cheered me on and supported me through thick and thin. Cycling required my blood, sweat and tears at times, but mostly it was beautiful and I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for the world!

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Tom Dumoulin is heading to Tenerife for warm weather training altitude today (Monday), after realising he needs to improve his performance level in order to achieve his ultimate goal at the Giro d'Italia in a month's time. 

Despite an underwhelming 2022 so far, the Dutchman is still targeting a strong showing in both time trials and overall GC victory at the Grand Tour. He is hoping altitude training in Tenerife will unlock the potential he feels he is capable of, helping him to achieve his ambitions.

Dumoulin told AD: “I’m going to Tenerife (Monday) to prepare for the Giro. I will do the necessary work, without worrying whether it will be enough or not. We will see all of this in the first week of the Giro.

“It makes little sense to elaborate on the Giro. I’ve shown crazy things before with a little lack of preparation. I’m going to do the work that’s needed, and then I’m not concerned with whether it’s going to be enough or if I can join the GC battle. We will see that in the first week of the Giro.

“Even if I don’t have my best legs at the moment, I will stick to the objectives defined. That’s to do two very good time trials and aim for the general classification.”

Despite his lofty ambitions of GC victory at the Giro d'Italia in May, Dumoulin will still head to Tenerife without placing too much pressure on himself. The Jumbo-Visma rider recognises he has struggled somewhat this season, but claimed his latest 30th-place finish at Amstel Gold Race has provided him with the motivation he needs to kick on and prepare correctly for the Giro next month.

Finishing 2-30 back on the leaders, Dumoulin seemed content with the performance, albeit recognising he still has plenty more to give. 

Speaking after the race, Dumoulin said: “I am happy because it’s enough to face the coming period with confidence. But at the same time, I am not at my best level.

“I was in the third group after the Keutenberg. You always hope for more somewhere, but I didn’t have those legs. There was also a good chance that I wouldn’t have them.”

Tom Dumoulin has revealed that despite being a Grand Tour winner and counting two second places in three-week races, he has often struggled with the demands of being a team leader.

It is why the Dutchman is satisfied that Jumbo-Visma have selected both him and Tobias Foss as their leaders at May's Giro d'Italia, the race where Dumoulin will return to Grand Tour action after missing large parts of the 2021 season to determine if he still wanted to remain a cyclist.

The Italian race is the scene of the 31-year-old's greatest triumph when he won the maglia rosa in 2017, but in an honest assessment on his return to the first Grand Tour of the season, Dumoulin admitted that sharing responsibility with the 24-year-old Foss pleases him.

"That's very nice," he told his team's website. "I am not really an alpha male. I've struggled with having a whole crew revolve around me in the past.

"It's nicer that I can now share the leadership with Tobias in that respect. He is a very nice and suitable rider for that.

"I hope we can both reach a high level and in that case we can help each other in the finals."

Last January Dumoulin took an indefinite break from cycling to assess his life and motivation as a bike rider, concluding after a few months that he did still have the desire to remain a professional.

He returned at the Tour de Suisse and also rode the Olympic Games and the Benelux Tour, but the upcoming season will be the first time he has raced a packed program since the rescheduled calendar of the 2020 Covid-affected season.

"My cycling life looks very different now compared to a year ago," he said. "At that moment, I had to stop myself.

"In hindsight, I'm happy I did that at the time. I made a conscious choice to be a cyclist. It has its good sides but also it's downsides. 

"I can live with that better now because I know this is what I really want. Now it's a new year with a new Tom Dumoulin.

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"I am in a different place now. I feel really good and I'm looking forward to the coming year. I have a lot of ambitions."

Dumoulin will begin his season at the UAE Tour, before riding Strade Bianche, Volta a Catalunya and Amstel Gold Race ahead of a tilt at the Giro that he is confident of.

"For various reasons it has been a while since I rode for a classification," he assessed. "I don't think I have lost the touch. It is something I have always been naturally good at.

"The only downside is that there are perhaps too few time trial kilometres included in the course."

Tom Dumoulin has confirmed that he will be going for the general classification at at least one Grand Tour in 2022.

It is not yet clear which race he will target, but the Tour de France would be unlikely selection with Primož Roglič being the main leader of Team Jumbo-Visma. It would need a priority change from the Slovenian star.

Otherwise, the Vuelta a España has both a team and individual time trial as well as a start in Dumoulin's home nation of the Netherlands. With the Giro d'Italia not going for much in the way of TT kilometres, it doesn't seem like such an inviting option for the former time trial world champion. 

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Another enticing motive for Dumoulin to opt for the Vuelta could be the fact that the penultimate stage in the 2022 route is very similar to the one where he lost the red jersey to Fabio Aru back in 2015.

In an interview with De Telegraf, Dumoulin said: "We have talked a lot about it in the team in recent months. I think riding a [general] classification is very special. That is the ultimate challenge, the pinnacle of cycling.

"Those highs are what drives me. Not only that, of course. Fun should always be there, but if it wasn't for those special highlights, I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much."

Dumoulin had a turbulent 2021 season with the 31-year-old taking time away from the sport in the first half of the season to focus on his mental wellbeing, taking time away from everything bike related in order to assess where he was in his life. 

Thankfully, he returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse in June of 2021 where he put in some excellent performances including a fifth place in the second time trial. He won the Dutch national time trial championships just a few days later.

"I think it's special that I have this opportunity, and it's cool that I can do it well. No matter how difficult it is, because there is a lot of stress and pressure involved," he continued. 

"But when I look back on my career so far, it is precisely those moments where you perform maximum under difficult circumstances are the most special.

"Last year in December I noticed that the feeling was not good, I was over-trained and very tired. Now I feel fit and comfortable in my own skin."

But if Dumoulin wants to have a good go at winning a Grand Tour, like he did at the 2017 Giro, he would need to beat some of the new young-guns such as two-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Enric Mas (Movistar), 2019 Giro winner Richard Carapaz and 2019 Tour and 2021 Giro winner Egan Bernal (both Ineos Grenadiers).

Haig has been working hard on his time trialing for the Tour due to the 53km of TT racing, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl boss Patrick Lefevere is keen to send Evenepoel to the Vuelta and Mas wants to continue to improve at the Tour and the Vuelta.

However, Dumoulin says he isn't afraid of this new influx of talent: "I just think it's great that every year a few of these young guys join us. It makes it even more difficult to get a good classification, but for cycling that's great."

Tom Dumoulin has made it clear that he is open to a Grand Tour return in 2022, but explained that he needs to be fully fit to match his ambition and competitiveness of winning every race he participates in.

The Dutchman will go to Girona with his Jumbo-Visma team in mid-December ahead of their first training camp before the 2022 season. Dumoulin highlighted that he will discuss the plans for his upcoming season at the Spanish camp with team leaders and coaches, refusing to rule out participation in a Grand Tour. 

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Dumoulin told Dutch magazine Helden: "I became a cyclist to get the most out of myself. I still think that trying to get results is the best thing there is. It doesn't make me happy if I just have to ride ahead of others. Then I can be a great value to the team at 95 per cent of my ability.

"But performing well at 95 per cent doesn't match my level of ambition - I want to go for that 100 per cent. I want to ride and of course I want to win. In which races? We'll see in December. But I certainly don't rule out Grand Tours. I continue to find that very challenging and I know that I can be very good at that.”

Dumoulin last competed in a Grand Tour in 2020 at the Vuelta a España, which he abandoned after a week following a seventh-place finish at the Tour de France just a month prior. The Dutch rider then struggled during his preparations for the 2021 season, ultimately leading him to take an extended break from competitive cycling at the beginning of the year. 

He explained that he faced difficult moments with his love of the sport at that time, choosing to take a break so that his relationship with cycling didn't deteriorate further, while also protecting his own mental health.

Dumoulin said: “After a month of rest I was still not fit. I was so tired that I started preparing for the new year. Then you keep cycling in the hope that it will get better on its own. However, it only got worse.

“In January I couldn't even last two hours on the bike. I felt sick and miserable for the rest of the day after such a trip. I lay on the couch for hours. My body had completely pulled on the brakes at that point. When you feel so weak, you lose the total joy of cycling. I even started to hate it. I had no choice but to cut the knot and quit myself in January. I couldn't go on like this."

During this period, Dumoulin feels like he managed to regain control of his life, realising that he had grown tired of people telling him what was best for his career. While he understands that sponsor obligations and interviews are the nature of the beast of becoming an elite-level cyclist, the 31-year-old also recognises that he had little say over what he actually did.

Dumoulin continued, saying: "I needed that period of time to find out that this was bothering me.

"All the people around me want to get the most out of me. That's not wrong, because that's what I want. They just want to achieve that goal by creating a whole environment around me, with the best experts in all areas who determine what is best for me. Everyone wants to contribute with the best will in the world to make me better. 

"Hardly anyone thought about what and how I actually wanted it. Choices were made for me almost continuously, so that I could no longer indicate which direction I thought best. That often felt very oppressive.”

Tom Dumoulin has joined an ever growing list of pro cyclists putting in excellent running performances in the off-season with a second place at the Groene Loper 10k Run in Maastricht.

Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) is currently coming back from injuries sustained in a crash where he was hit by a car as he recced his own sportive route in September of this year. He broke his Scaphoid, a bone in the wrist, in the incident.

The Dutch rider has since ridden with members of the Tour de Tietema amateur cycling team as well as visiting a local bike shop as he focussed on recovery. 

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He has clearly been running a fair bit while having the injured wrist looking at his outstanding performance at a 10k run in Maastricht.

Dumoulin ran the 10km route in an exceptionally fast 32-38 which saw him average a speed of 18.3km/h as he ran to second place on the day behind Wouter Simons, who was 17 seconds faster.

On Twitter, Bram Op den Camp tweeted a photo of Dumoulin's stats from the event as well as saying "you could form a nice group of cyclists. Pidcock, Yates. And Tom is running a 10k in Maastricht this afternoon".

Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) recently ran the Barcelona marathon in a brilliant time of just under three hours as the climber from Bury in Greater Manchester is clearly keen to keep his off-season fitness high.

As well as Dumoulin and Yates, Jumbo-Visma star Wout van Aert started his extended break from cycling with an 11km run as he was supposedly resting before launching into his cyclo-cross season in December. 

Back in February of this year, Ineos Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock also posted a staggering pace on his 5km run but it was later decided that it was unlikely that he managed to be just 50 seconds off the world record for the distance. 

Canadian rider Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) is also a keen runner and came into cycling from running after an injury. 

Dumoulin is currently contracted with Jumbo-Visma for another year but has been rumoured to possibly be joining Team BikeExchange for the 2023 season if he still wants to be a Grand Tour leader.

Tom Dumoulin has recovered from a broken wrist two months after sustaining the injury, and is back on his bike riding again as he prepares for next season. 

The 30-year-old was on a training ride in early September building towards the World Championships in Flanders, when a driver crashed into him, resulting in a fractured wrist as he tried to break his fall. 

The Dutchman subsequently missed the World Championships, ending his 2021 season prematurely. However, he is back cycling again, albeit with a slightly less intense programme so that he can regain his confidence on the bike.

Dumoulin has resumed training in the Netherlands with a group of amateur cyclists, members of the Tour de Tietema Cycling Team. The Jumbo-Visma man seemed relaxed as he joined the cycling team for their ride, with the intensity set by the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner. 

Since his injuries, Dumoulin has largely kept a low profile, opting to focus on his recovery rather than make his presence known while he couldn't ride. As well as the training cycle with locals, he also visited a local bike shop with the group. 

Dumoulin's 2021 season featured a limited race schedule, after announcing in January that he would take an indefinite leave from the sport to better understand his motivations for cycling. 

However, he still managed to show his quality in the year, achieving first place in the Dutch National Championships time trial in June, his first event after his return, and a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games time trial. 

As Dumoulin seemed to rediscover the form that saw him perform so admirably a few years ago though, he suffered an injury while preparing for the World Championships. This proved a major setback in his season, because his wrist required surgery at the start of September. 

The early signs from Dumoulin's training ride with Tour de Tietema Cycling Team though, suggests that he will enter 2022 fit and firing ready for the season with Jumbo-Visma. 

Team BikeExchange's general manager Brent Copeland has confirmed that Tom Dumoulin is among the riders they will consider signing for the future as a potential general classification (GC) rider. 

The Dutch rider is out of contract at the end of 2022 with his current team Jumbo-Visma, so for Team BikeExchange this would be a move looking to the future, rather than a short-term possibility. Last month L’Equipe reported that Dumoulin could terminate his contract with Jumbo-Visma, but he quickly denied the claim. 

However, with the 30-year-old out of contract in a year's time, Copeland revealed that the team will definitely consider bringing him to the Australian outfit.  

“Tom Dumoulin is a rider that's on the market at the end of next year and he is a rider that most teams would like to have on board if he performs like he did at the Olympics, for example,” Brent Copeland told Cyclingnews.  

“If he's wanting to carry on with GC ambitions he is definitely a rider that we would sit down and say, ‘okay, is this someone that we could bring on board for the future and work with’. He has still got a good couple of years ahead of him, so those discussions are ongoing all the time.”

Dumoulin's 2021 season featured a limited race schedule, after announcing in January that he would take an indefinite leave from the sport to better understand his motivations for cycling. However, he still managed to show his quality in the year, with both first place in the Dutch National Championships time trial in June, his first event after his return, and a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games time trial. 

The 2017 Giro d'Italia winner, Copeland argues, now has to prove he is able to perform over the year before the team makes a decision. 

“You have to see how he goes next year; if he's going to invest in GC still, or three week GC or just one-week GC races," said Copeland. "That's something we'll have to look at but it’s not a decision we make today. He's one of many riders that we have on the list that we are continuously looking at and thinking about for the future."

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Should the Dutchman convince Team BikeExchange management of his quality, they could have a strong contingent of riders capable of challenging at the Grand Tours, after the team lost Adam Yates and Jack Haig to rival squads. 

Tom Dumoulin could be set to break his contract with Jumbo-Visma to move to Team BikeExchange in 2022, says a report in L'Equipe.

The Dutch star still has a contract through next season but could be on his way to the Australian squad of Simon Yates and Michael Matthews next year.

Reports from Cyclingnews say the deal won't happen until 2023 however, when Dumoulin's current contract expires.

Bike brand Giant is a make way for the deal says the report, and Cycling Weekly understands the Taiwanese manufacturer is likely to replace Bianchi as BikeExchange's bike provider for next season. Giant doesn't currently have a WorldTour partner after leaving cycling's top-level following the collapse of the CCC Team last year. Premier Tech could also come on board as a co-sponsor at BikeExchange after ending an agreement with Astana this year.

Dumoulin has a long history with Giant, taking his biggest victories while riding as part of the Giant-Shimano team and Team Sunweb. He took his only world time trial title aboard the brand's time trial bike in 2017, having already that year won his first and only Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, ahead of Nairo Quintana. He also won stages at all three Grand Tours while riding Giant bikes.

Dumoulin joined Jumbo-Visma at the start of 2020 after breaking his contract with the Sunweb team. He failed to score a win in his first, albeit disrupted, season but proved invaluable in helping Primož Roglič dominate the Tour de France before losing the race on the final stage.

He then took a mental health break at the start of the 2021 season before returning rejuvenated to cycling in June at the Dutch National Championships. The 30-year-old then went on to take a time trial silver medal at the Olympic Games in August, behind his current trade team-mate Roglič and ahead of Jumbo-Visma's latest star signing Rohan Dennis.

Dumoulin was then forced to end his season in September after being hit by a car while training, resulting in a broken scaphoid.

Tom Dumoulin still plans to continue his racing career, and even potentially target another Grand Tour, despite his season-ending training crash.

Jumbo-Visma rider Dumoulin took an indefinite mental health break from racing earlier this year, unsure if he wanted to continue his racing career. 

But the Dutch star returned to competition in June in emphatic style, winning his first race, the Dutch national time trial championships, and going on to win silver in the Olympic TT in Tokyo. 

Dumoulin, winner of the 2017 Giro d'Italia, then turned his attention to the World Championships, hoping for another shot a glory in the Flanders-hosted event later this month. 

Earlier this week, news emerged that Dumoulin had been forced to withdraw from the Worlds after he was knocked off his bike by a driver while training, suffering a broken wrist which put a premature end to his season.

Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman was one of the first to hear about Dumoulin’s injuries, as the rider text him on the day of the fall telling him he would not be racing the Worlds.

Zeeman told Dutch news outlet AD: “In the time trial at the World Championships, Tom was certainly a medal candidate. 

“I was confident that Tom would have a good autumn and lay a foundation for next year.”

But despite the setback, which is added to a long list of illnesses and injuries that have hampered Dumoulin over the last three years, Zeeman says the 30-year-old will continue racing next year, and may even target another Grand Tour.

“Tom hasn’t become a different rider,” Zeeman said. “His qualities are still the same as before. He remains a very good climber with a devastating time trial.”

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“As a one-day rider, he can play a role in finals at times, but the most important remain stage races. I think he will definitely try another Grand Tour as well. The main difference is that Tom has to think carefully about when he wants to be good and how he works towards it. He may drive a few fewer races and some races for the team or someone else."  

Tom Dumoulin has been forced to end his season due to injuries sustained in a training crash, where he was hit by a driver. 

The Dutch Jumbo-Visma rider had been building towards the World Championships in Flanders later this month, but has now had to pull out due to a broken scaphoid, a bone in the wrist, on his right hand.

Dumoulin was out on a recon of his own sportive called Tour de Dumoulin, which is scheduled to take place on October 3 in the Ardennes region of the Netherlands, when he was struck by a car with him hitting the road hard afterwards.

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Dumoulin said: "This is a big disappointment. My season is finished. That’s a big disappointment, because I just got really good at it again. Also, during the training today I felt really strong. I had a lot of confidence that I could ride a very strong month."

Dumoulin took a break from riding his bike all together at the start of the season for his mental wellbeing and to decide if he wanted to continue his career in the peloton. 

He decided to return to racing with his team at the Tour de Suisse in mid-June where he put in a very solid display including a top five in a mountainous time trial before heading home and winning his national time trial title.

Dumoulin was scheduled to ride the World Championships and then the Italian Classics finishing with the Monument of Il Lombardia.

"I was really looking forward to that. Those are races that suit me very well, but unfortunately it won’t be for this year," said the 30-year-old.

Dumoulin had just finished racing at the Benelux Tour where he finished ninth overall managing a top 10 in three stages with a third place on the final stage behind Bahrain Victorious duo of Matej Mohorič and eventual overall winner Sonny Colbrelli.

He will be going into surgery as soon as tomorrow morning (September 11).

There were tears for Tom Dumoulin after Rohan Dennis, Filippo Ganna and Stefan Küng all fell just short of his second-best time in the Tokyo Olympics time trial, the Dutchman capping off his recent return to racing with a silver medal.

“It was a difficult road to get here," Dumoulin said after the finish, having already raced the Tour de Suisse and national championships since returning to the sport after a break, with the Olympics the main goal he was focused on. "I was overtrained in the winter and done [with] cycling. But I decided to return, especially for this day. I had a goal and I'm proud."

Dumoulin's trade team, Jumbo-Visma, picked up gold and silver on the Fuji International Speedway circuit, as Slovenia's Primož Roglič also found redemption for his Tour de France disappointment by blowing away all of his rivals in the race against the clock.

“[My medal] has become silver, but definitely with a gold edge. Primož was from another planet today," Dumoulin said. "I know he's a special guy. And it's very nice to be on the podium. This is great for me."

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The time trial event offered respite for Dutch cycling in Japan, their Games so far beset by miscommunication and crashes for various riders in different disciplines, with Van Vleuten taking gold in the women's event on top of Dumoulin's silver.

National coach Koos Moerenhout says Dumoulin is a unique rider and deserved the trust of the national federation to compete in Tokyo despite his lack of race days in 2021.

“You know he's been in deep and he's got the right line," Moerenhout said of his rider's performance. "But you can only go into this event with confidence, and with the class he has. He is unique and he deserved that trust. Then it's nice that it comes out. It is better than fourth or fifth, a very nice and deserved place.

“It was very exciting, in the car too,” he added. "You are stuck on your buttocks to see if he can keep it up. He did that wonderfully. He had to fight for it and showed that he really wanted it.”

Moerenhout explains Dumoulin used Tokyo to galvanise his career, and having achieved that, it will be exciting to see what the supremely talented 30-year-old does next.

"He didn't say much and neither did I," Moerenhout says of the reaction after silver was confirmed. “He realises like no other that it is about his life, about his career. He took a deep dive and chose Tokyo as a trigger to push that career forward. Then you hope for this.”

Tom Dumoulin said watching his team-mate win on Mont Ventoux gave him the itch to race the Tour de France again.

Jumbo-Visma rider Dumoulin is making his comeback after he took an unexpected break from racing earlier this year, but is now targeting a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Dumoulin left the peloton in order to reassess his career as a professional cyclist, but eventually found the love of riding his bike again.

The Dutchman, winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia,  returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse in June but does not yet have plans to target Grand Tours again. 

But watching the Tour de France while training for the Olympic time trial, Dumoulin admits he did find himself missing the Tour.

The 30-year-old said: “For our team it was really only doom and gloom at first, but it's great to see those guys show resilience. When I saw Wout [Van Aert] win the Mont Ventoux stage, it started to itch for me. I also like the Tour in this phase again with people standing by the side of the road with their campers, the holiday feeling that comes with the Tour. I have always found that special.” 

Dumoulin made the shock announcement that he would be taking an indefinite break during a team training camp earlier this year, after a tough few years of dealing with illness and injury.

But he is already back to speed, as he won the Dutch National Time Trial Championships, in only his ninth day of racing in 2021. 

Dumoulin is targeting the Olympic time trial in Tokyo, an undulating 44km course around the Fuji International Speedway.

While Dumoulin, the world time trial champion in 2017, would love to take gold, he said even a bronze medal would be enough of an achievement, even having already won silver in the Rio 2016 Olympics.

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He said: “I am very pleased with the progress I have made since I started my training in May. 

“At the moment I would be jumping for joy with bronze. I’d cherish that perhaps even more than silver in Rio.

“Gold is fantastic and of course I strive for that, but that will be very difficult.” 

Tom Dumoulin is back to winning ways and is 'comfortable in his own skin again' after taking the Dutch national time trial title for a record-equaling fourth time in his career.

The Jumbo-Visma rider seemed over the moon with the win as it is the first victory since coming back from a career break to deal with mental health issues.

Dumoulin took the win by 27 seconds over Sebastian Langeveld (EF Education-Nippo) with climber Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) in third at 1-24.

Reigning champion, Jos van Emden (Jumbo-Visma) was not able to race due to the injuries he sustained in a nasty crash at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year.

The race did not take place in 2020, much like many other National Championships. It came back this year with two laps around a course of 14.8km, making the entire route 29.6km in total in the town of Essen.

After the race, Dumoulin said: "This is just really beautiful. Winning is winning. Now I can ride around in a nice jersey for a year. Maybe in 2017 or 2018, it would have affected me less, but now it affects me a lot."

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Dumoulin returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse a week ago where he put in some very solid displays including a fifth place on the mountainous time trial on stage seven.

It was his first race back since deciding to rejoin his team after taking a break out of the sport to focus on his mental health. He reflected on his time out of the sport in his interview, saying before his break he felt 'overtrained'.

"Since the beginning of May, I started training seriously again," Dumoulin said.

"Since then it has only gone in the right direction – also some lesser days and periods, but mainly better. Certainly, in Switzerland, things got better every day. That I'm recovering well is perhaps the best thing of all. Last year and early this year when I stopped, I was just overtrained and just didn't recover."

"The fact that you no longer know your own body is a very bad feeling. That your body no longer responds to training, as you are used to. The rest period has done me a lot of good. It's great that it's already yielding results. I'm very happy with that,"

All of this will give him a stack load more confidence as he heads towards his main season goal, the Olympic Games time trial gold medal. He was originally set to return to the Tour de France but he and the team changed plans and have now put all their focus on the Games. Dumoulin wanted to thank everyone for sticking by him.

"I would also like to thank the people around me and the team. They gave me time in February, March and April, which really did me a lot of good. I hope I have become a much nicer rider. And whether or not that will yield results in the coming period, may not even be the most important thing. I'm comfortable in my own skin and… beautiful."

It is not known if Dumoulin will race again before the Olympics, perhaps the Dutch road race on the weekend, but otherwise it is unclear.

The Tokyo Olympics begins on July 23 with the time trial taking place on July 28 around a 22.1km circuit at the Fuji Kokusai golf club next to Mount Fuji.

Tom Dumoulin says he's quite close to where he needs to be after returning to racing for the first time after taking a break from the sport.

Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) managed a very impressive 16th place in the opening time trial of the Tour de Suisse 2021, beating the likes of Luxembourg time trial champion Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citroën) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix).

Speaking after the race, Dumoulin said: "It was good. I’m not at my best yet of course, but that was also not to be expected. I’m just happy to be back and to be racing again.

"I didn't really have any expectations or hopes in terms of results. Well, my only hope was I would not be in the second half of the bunch. But luckily I'm quite close. And this offers me some opportunities for the next week to improve."

>>> 'Maybe I'll chase the GC at Grand Tours again,' says Tom Dumoulin as he makes comeback at Tour de Suisse

The former time trial world champion said that he didn't have time to enjoy the ride as he was concentrating on the effort in the time trial, adding that he was nervous before and during the ride.

"It was good but not good enough yet. Especially the second half," Dumoulin said.

"I noticed that I missed some power to really pull through I think in the technical first half of the TT I was kind of okay, but then you notice in the second half that when you have these long straights and you really need the power I'm still lacking a little bit but that's okay."

Jumbo-Visma looks to be set to support Dumoulin and Sam Oomen for a potential hit out at the general classification, with Oomen being the likely leader while Mike Teunissen will target sprint opportunities.

The second stage of the Tour de Suisse is a standard profile for the race with lots of testing lumps towards the second half of the day between Neuhausen am Rheinfall to Lachen over 178km.

Tom Dumoulin says he may turn his attention once more to the general classification of the Grand Tours, after taking a break from racing, but that he could also focus on other goals or retire as a rider altogether.

"The problem over the last three years was that I lost the pleasure in the job and racing. I had forgotten what I liked and didn't like," Dumoulin told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad before the start of the Tour de Suisse, where he is making his return to cycling.

"Now I know that again. This period without racing taught me a lot. I know again what kind of rider Tom Dumoulin is. What follows after Tokyo I don't know yet. Maybe it will be chasing classifications in Grand Tours again. Maybe I want to set other goals, or maybe I don't want to be a rider at all anymore."

Dumoulin won't be targeting the GC in Switzerland but does have an eye on the two time trials as he looks to build towards the time trial event at the Tokyo Olympics.

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"These time trials will make me a bit wiser. Although you can't compare these time trials with the ones in Tokyo, that doesn't really matter, I see these time trials more as a test to realise what I need to work on," Dumoulin said.

"I am not here to kill myself, but to have a good week of racing in the legs. You shouldn't forget that I have only trained for a month."

"Although I have to say that I was shocked when I got back on my bike for the first time after a few months of no training. After two weeks, I did a test and was surprised by the result. The talent has certainly not disappeared. That is also the reason why I have made the Tokyo Olympics a goal."

As for the struggles with his mental health, Dumoulin has little advice for other athletes going through the same thing, although feels taking his break was definitely the correct decision.

"Of course I am not alone. There are many top athletes and certainly also non-top athletes who struggle with themselves, but I don't want to present myself as a role model.

"I have no advice for others. Each person can figure that out for themselves. During the training camp in Livigno, I certainly found the love of cycling again. I was in a deep place before. Besides the mental difficulties I was so overtrained that I was not healthy either. As soon as I took some rest, I felt better. When I got back on the bike, I felt that as a rider I was not ready yet – I still have that feeling now."

Tom Dumoulin has recently announced that he will be returning to the world of professional cycling after taking time out due to struggles with his mental health. The Dutchman said he had become "a little lost" before he took an indefinite break from the sport.

Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) was at the roadside throughout the Amstel Gold Race in April, which is ridden on his local roads in the Netherlands, when he started to miss the sport.

Speaking in a team interview, Dumoulin said: "In April I slowly started cycling again and I also came back with a happy feeling more and more often. I thought: "oh yeah, this is really fun after all". 

"Then I decided to be present at the Amstel. And I found it very nice to see everyone again and to taste the atmosphere of the race. That triggered me to say 'oh, this is a world in which I have built up something in recent years but that has also really become my world.' A world that I really like. 

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"Despite the fact that I have experienced it as very difficult at times in recent years, it is also a world for which I feel a lot of love. And that feeling was kind of triggered at the time."

The 2017 Giro d'Italia winner made the decision to take a step back from the sport at the team's training camp back in January so he could think about his future as a cyclist.

At that time Dumoulin said he didn't know what he wanted to do with his career as a cyclist and wanted to find what he as a man wanted to be. Whether that was aiming to win the Tour de France or something different.

Upon being asked if he found what he wanted he said: "To the question ‘do I still like cycling’, I could answer ‘yes’ wholeheartedly. Do I want to do something else with my life? No. I still do like cycling enough to want to do it professionally. At the moment I say yes to that. Look, in recent years I have become a little lost. What do I want when I look at this year? 

"What do I really want to get out of it for myself and for others? But especially for myself? What makes me really happy? And then indicate that clearly. And how do I want to do that and how do I want to approach that? 

"Actually, in recent years I have not been able to communicate that clearly to myself. And if you can’t communicate that clearly to yourself anymore, then you can’t communicate that clearly to others either. There was always a plan behind it and I no longer knew whether I was up for it or not. Now I got much more clarity about that."

Dumoulin will make his return to racing at the upcoming Tour de Suisse before riding the Dutch National Championships. He will not ride the Tour de France, as was planned, but he is aiming for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"I really want to work on cool projects again, so to speak. In this case, I mean the Olympic project. A project in which I can lose myself completely, in a good way. That makes me completely happy. That allows me to think ‘yes, it went totally wrong today on the bike but it doesn’t matter’. 

"Because you think: I’m working on this project and one bad day doesn’t matter. And I had that feeling a lot in the past and I’ve completely lost it, causing those bad days to linger much longer"

Tom Dumoulin will return to racing after taking a break from his cycling career, as he will ride the Tour de Suisse next month and then hopes to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.  

The winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia make the shock announcement that he would be leaving the peloton in January , as he left the Jumbo-Visma team training camp to take unpaid leave for an indefinite period. 

Dumoulin’s departure came the day after his team announced he would be targeting the Tour de France and the Olympic Games, and it was unclear if he would ever return to racing. 

But on Thursday (May 13), Dutch WorldTour squad Jumbo confirmed that the 30-year-old will return to racing at the Tour de Suisse in June, having “found the joy in cycling again.” 

In a statement, the team said: “Tom Dumoulin will make his comeback in the professional peloton in the Tour de Suisse. The rider of Team Jumbo-Visma has made this decision together with the team as he has recently found the joy in cycling again. Last January Dumoulin decided to temporarily pause his career to reflect on his future.

“In Switzerland Dumoulin wants to regain the racing feeling. After the Swiss stage race, the former world time trial champion will also appear at the start of the Dutch time trial and road championships. Dumoulin also has the ambition to go to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.” 

Dumoulin has battled through a tough few seasons, struggling with a lingering knee injury in 2019 and falling ill early in 2020. 

Announcing his indefinite break, Dumoulin said he felt he had not felt himself for a year and wanted to take time away to decide if he wanted to continue his career. 

He said at the time: “People have a lot of expectations for that. As a top athlete, your own expectations are already very difficult to manage.”

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After initially keeping the door open for the former time trial world champion to ride the Tour de France, Jumbo-Visma confirmed last month that Dumoulin would not race the Tour, while the team said the most important thing “is that he’s happy in what he’s doing.” 

The Tour de Suisse, which starts on June 6, will be Dumoulin’s first race since the 2020 Vuelta a España last October, which he abandoned on stage eight after struggling with fatigue following an intense period of racing.    

Jonas Vingegaard has been chosen to take the place vacated by Tom Dumoulin in Jumbo-Visma's 2021 Tour de France squad.

The young Dane has impressed this early season, winning a stage of the UAE Tour, the overall and two stages at Settimana Coppi e Bartali, as well as riding to second on GC at the Tour of the Basque Country, with Jumbo-Visma saying "he is ready for a Tour debut".

The spot in the Dutch team's eight-man squad opened up after Tom Dumoulin decided earlier in the year to take a break from racing. The 30-year-old's name apparently being present on a recent Dutch cycling federation list for Covid-19 vaccination ahead of the Olympic Games did however stoke rumours of a comeback in time for the Tour.

He was spotted at the recent Amstel Gold Race, a VIP guest of the race organisers, and hanging around to watch the peloton pass by.

Jumbo-Visma will be hoping to go one better than last year at the Tour, with Primož Roglič once again aiming for the yellow jersey, having finished runner-up behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in 2020.

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Five of that 2020 squad will return for 2021, Roglič accompanied by Wout van Aert, Tony Martin, Sepp Kuss and Robert Gesink once more.

Steven Kruijswijk is also on the list, having missed out last year due to injury, while former yellow jersey wearer Mike Teunissen rounds out the list of eight names.

"I am of course very happy with this," Vingegaard said of his inclusion. "It’s a dream coming true for me. I always watched the Tour on television, so it’s very nice to be awarded a place in the Tour selection.

"I am very happy with my development because I have made quite a big improvement indeed. Hopefully, I can get even better. By helping Primož and Steven I can take another step and learn a lot. The Tour is something different from the Vuelta, but it will certainly be a great experience again."

"We believe he will play a really important role in the Tour. His selection is a reward for his good results. In theory, Jonas can be a grand tour contender himself," added sports director Girscha Niermann. "He also has a good time trial. But he needs time for his development. In that regard, nothing is better than riding a grand tour with Steven and with Primoz and support them and also learn from them."

Jumbo-Visma is leaving the door open for Tom Dumoulin to compete in the 2021 Tour de France. 

The Dutch Grand Tour star has decided to take a break from professional cycling, announcing the decision to his team during their training camp last month. 

Dumoulin, 30, is currently on unpaid leave and has not given any indication of when he might return to the sport, as he wants to consider his future as a professional rider.  

But Dumoulin’s team believe the winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia has the potential to return to the highest level this year, if he chooses. 

In an interview with cycling website Wielerflits, Jumbo-Visma coach Grischa Niermann said: “We now assume that Tom will not participate in the Tour. He needs time and he gets that time. The route to the Tour has already started, but the specific preparation for the Tour de France will start for us at the beginning of May. If Tom returns to training before the time and reaches a good level, he is so talented that through that preparation he can be at the start of the Tour in top form. It wouldn't be fair to exclude him from that. ” 

In January, the Dutch WorldTour team made the surprise announcement that Dumoulin would be stepping back from the sport as he had been struggling with the pressure and expectations.

The news came just days after Dumoulin had explained how excited he was to race a cobbled Classics campaign this season, before turning his focus to the Grand Tours.

 Dumoulin said at the time: “I’m going to think a lot, take the dog for walks and look for: what do I want as a person with the bike? What do I want with my life?

“The team supports me in this and it feels good. It feels like a backpack has lost 100 kilos. I immediately woke up happy. It feels so good that I finally made the decision to take some time for myself.”

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Niermann said the team are not regularly contacting Dumoulin to ask when he will return to training, and added that it would take time for him to increase his training and get back to competition.  

Retired pro Marcel Kittel has shared his support for former team-mate Tom Dumoulin, who announced he will be taking an indefinite break from professional cycling.

Kittel similarly decided to take a break from racing nearly two years ago, quitting Katusha-Alpecin in May 2019 citing exhaustion. In August he subsequently announced his retirement, and since then has been vocal about the extreme pressures endured by riders.

"I've always admired Tom Dumoulin for his strength. On the bike when were team-mates and won Tour de France stages together and off the bike for his clear opinion and honest critique," Kittel said, posting on Instagram.

Kittel says he can relate to Dumoulin's situation, and rather than wish him a speedy return to the sport, only hopes that the Dutchman can find the answers he needs.

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"Of course, it's sad to see him taking a time out from cycling now, but he is also staying true to himself to take the time he needs to figure out what who he is and what he wants.

"I know from personal experience how it feels and how difficult it can be when you're doubting what you do and you want to look beyond your current life and identity. Only time will give you the answers and I hope for Tom that he'll find them soon.

"Until then I wish him the same strength that he's also got on the bike for this part of his career and everyone else who is in the same situation and trying to learn more about his or her own identity.

"I know that it's a big journey with an uncertain destination but also a very important life lesson once you find that inner compass again, recalibrate and head into this future direction."

Dutch former pro Michael Boogerd also said he can understand Dumoulin's decision.

"I have seen it myself. The pressure, the expectations. I struggled with that too," he told AD.

"People said to me: just look what you have. Healthy children, a beautiful woman, a generous salary, two big cars at the door. But it's not that simple, is it? From that perspective, I have respect for the choice Tom is now making.

"Of course, you have seen for a while that he is not feeling well. He's throwing millions aside. That isn't nothing. I think it's a brave decision.

"Between 2015 and 2018 he was on top of the world with a world title time trial and the win in the Giro. That is really amazing. After that, it went less good for him. If it goes well, all those opinions and reactions are nice. When things go wrong, it all becomes a lot more difficult. That's why I don't envy him right now."

Tom Dumoulin has expanded on his reasons to take a step back from cycling and consider his future.

The Dutchman says he needs time to get things clear in his head, and that for too long he's felt pressure to perform, with Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert saying the decision isn't as big of a surprise to him as it has been to the outside world.

"The team and I decided yesterday that I will take a leave of absence with an unknown time frame from our beautiful sport. For too long I've felt a big pressure to perform and I feel that I always want to do the best for the team, for all the sponsors, the fans," Dumoulin said on Twitter.

"But in that process, I forgot myself a bit. I forgot what I actually want within this sport and for my future. Because I don’t have this answer clear for myself, I’m actually also not doing the best for the people around me.

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"I really need the time to get things clear in my head about what I want and how I want it. It feels really good to take this step and I feel greatly supported by my friends and family and the team to take this step. Taking the decision immediately felt like a big weight off my shoulders. I’m going to do a lot of thinking and talking to a lot of people and I’m very confident that I will find the answers in the coming period."

Van Aert added that he'd noticed his team-mate struggling for a while, and that he hopes Dumoulin will want to come back to the sport.

"Perhaps it is less surprising for me than for the outside world. Tom has had a difficult time and has been out for a while. In the team we noticed that he had his ups and downs," Van Aert said after racing Flandriencross where he finished second behind Mathieu van der Poel.

"I hope for him that this is a decision to [eventually] come back stronger. It is a difficult question whether I can understand his quitting, because I feel good about myself. I like to cycle, so it is difficult for me to understand that someone is losing their pleasure. Everyone has difficult times. We must respect that. I hope for him that this is not the end anyway."

Tom Dumoulin has decided to take a break from professional cycling.

The 30-year-old told Jumbo-Visma management at the team's training camp in Alicante, Spain, last night, and will take unpaid leave for an indefinite period.

According to De Limburger, the Dutchman has been unhappy as a cyclist for a year and wants to take time out to think about his future and whether he wants to continue his career as a professional cyclist.

This decision comes as a surprise, with Dumoulin saying in a released interview at the training camp this week that he was looking forward to returning to the cobbled Classics this coming season.

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"I have felt for quite some time, months, maybe even a year actually, that it is very difficult for me to know how to find my way as Tom Dumoulin the cyclist," Dumoulin said in a video posted by his Jumbo-Visma team. "With the pressure that comes with it, the expectations of different parties. I really want to do very well for a lot of people, but that has made me forget myself a little in the past year.

"What do I really want, what does man Tom Dumoulin want with his life at the moment? That is a question that has been bubbling up deep down for a few months and I actually don't have the time to answer that question.

"But that question is there and I didn't always get the time to actually answer that question. What do I want? Do I still want to be a cyclist? If so, how? If I want to win the Tour, how do I want to get there? And now I have the feeling that I don't know anymore and that I keep putting those questions to others to do it well for everyone. But that does not bring the result and that does not bring my happiness in the first place. So it just slowly made me unhappy. That's just a shame. So that's why I will take a break and who knows where it will lead."

Dumoulin says the team supports him in this decision and that taking a step pack feels like "his backpack has lost 100 kilos".

"I'm going to think a lot, take the dog for walks and look for: what do I want as a person with the bike? What do I want with my life? I made the decision yesterday. The team supports me in this and it feels good. It feels like a backpack has lost 100 kilos. I immediately woke up happily. It feels so good that I finally made the decision to take some time for myself," he said.

"But I have been attracted to everything about that for too long, what people think about it. It is about time that I got what I want for myself. You know, in the end, all those people, and the people in the team, my team-mates and especially myself, don't benefit at all if I keep muddling around now and then finally finish twelfth in the Tour, then fifth in the Olympics. That is of no use to us either. I have been muddling around for too long with those doubts in the back of my mind."

“A few years ago I achieved very good results and I became 'Tom Dumoulin, the great Dutch cyclist' once and for all. People have a lot of expectations for that. As a top athlete, your own expectations are already very difficult to manage. Then you can say 'Hey, just put it aside, what have they got to do with it', but in the end, I found that more difficult than I expected. Maybe I still want to be a cyclist, but then it is important that I don't care as much about what other people think about it."

After a difficult final 2019 season with Sunweb, where injury forced him to abandon the Giro d'Italia and subsequently miss the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and World Road Championships, Dumoulin transferred to Jumbo-Visma.

In his first season with the Dutch team, Dumoulin rode to seventh overall at the Tour de France, having given up on his own GC ambitions halfway through the race and riding in support of Primož Roglič. Dumoulin finished second behind Tadej Pogačar on the stage 20 time trial where his team-mate lost the yellow jersey to the younger Slovenian.

Tom Dumoulin is relishing the opportunity to return to the cobbled Classics in 2021, as the Grand Tour star shakes up his early season.

Jumbo-Visma rider Dumoulin will still be racing the Tour de France this year, but in his preparation the Dutchman will head to the Tour of Flanders, instead of the Ardennes.  

Dumoulin says that Wout van Aert will be the leader in the Belgian one-day races, but added there may be an opportunity for himself amidst the chaos. 

Speaking from the Jumbo-Visma training camp, former Giro d’Italia winner Dumoulin said: “I said a couple of years ago, but also last year I mentioned to [sports director] Merijn Zeeman that one day I want to do the cobbled Classics, that would be really nice.  

“Then he asked me at the end of the year ‘instead of the Ardennes classics, what would you think about doing the cobbled Classics?’”

Dumoulin added: “I always love the riding the cobbles. If there's a Roubaix stage in the Tour I'm always excited about it - I think I’m one of the only GC riders who is actually excited and not afraid.” 

Traditionally Dumoulin, 30, has started his season in the same way, racing Milan-San Remo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège as he builds towards his Grand Tour ambitions. 

Only once has he raced a cobbled Monument, the 2012 Tour of Flanders which he failed to finish.  

But this season Dumoulin will be racing a different programme, starting his season at Strade Bianche, then heading to Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo before lining up in Belgium for the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and the Tour of Flanders.

Later in the season, Dumoulin plans to race the Tour de Romandie before heading to France.

On his ambitions for the cobbles, Dumoulin said: “I am actually quite confident that I can get pretty far.

“Wout van Aert is our leader in those races and I think he’s one of the best riders in the world when he’s in top shape.

“We can definitely aim to go for the win with him in the first place, but these races are very open and unpredictable - a lot can happen in the final.” 

Dumoulin’s main goal is still the Tour de France, where he finished second in 2018, as he hopes to support Jumbo-Visma’s main Grand Tour leader Primož Roglič. 

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While Roglič will be Jumbo’s first choice, Dumoulin said that he and Steven Kruijswijk will be “shadow leaders,” ready to step up of the race demands it. 

Tom Dumoulin has abandoned the Vuelta a España 2020 after struggling through the first week of the race.

The Jumbo-Visma rider fell out of contention for the general classification on stage two and said he has been struggling with fatigue after an intense period of racing.

Dutchman Dumoulin has struggled through injury and illness in the last two seasons, and pulling out of the Vuelta is the latest blow to his Grand Tour ambitions. 

In a statement posted on social media before stage eight, Dumoulin said: “We have decided that I will leave the Vuelta. Both our coaching staff and I think it is the best choice to get off the bike. At the start of the Vuelta I already felt tired and that feeling remained. It makes no sense for me to continue, because then I might put a strain on next season. It is not desirable to leave the Vuelta, but this is the right choice. We can all agree on that. 

“With Primož Roglič we are in good shape in the general classification, hopefully the team can take home the win.” 

Dumoulin has had a mixed season so far, as he returned from a lingering knee injury suffered in the 2019 Giro d’Italia and then suffered from an illness in early 2020. 

The 29-year-old returned to Grand Tour racing at the Tour de France early this year, where he fell out of contention for the yellow jersey on stage eight to Loudenvielle, but eventually clawed time back to finish seventh in Paris.

Dumoulin then raced the World Championship time trial and road race, followed by the Ardennes Classics, before lining up in Spain.

But he fell out of the GC race in the Vuelta on stage two, when he lost eight minutes to his rivals.

Dumoulin said he was just hoping to make it through the race, after a tough year. 

He said after stage one: “I just don’t feel one hundred percent, just a little tired. I hope I can get through this round.” 

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Jumbo-Visma will once again rely on reigning Vuelta champion Primož Roglič, who had been leading this year’s edition until a problem with his rain jacket caused him to lose time on stage six. 

Roglic is still Jumbo-Visma’s best-placed rider overall heading into stage eight in fourth place, 30 seconds off the race lead.  

Tom Dumoulin says he’s just hoping to make it through the Vuelta a España after a disappointing start to the race.

The Jumbo-Visma rider was hoping to be the strongest rider in his team at the Spanish Grand Tour, but has since said he’s not feeling at his best. 

Stage one of the Vuelta was an explosive day of racing as the general classification contenders took up the fight early, with Dumoulin’s team-mate Primož Roglič emerging as the leader. 

Dumoulin slipped back on the tough climbs to Arrate, finishing the stage 51 seconds down on Roglič, making his challenge that little bit tougher.

Speaking after the stage, the Dutchman told broadcaster NOS: “That's how we went into the race, see who was the strongest. That became very clear today.

“I’ll do my best here and then we'll see, I started with that mindset. In any case, today was not good enough." 

Dumoulin added: "I just don't feel one hundred percent, just a little tired. I hope I can get through this round." 

The 29-year-old has suffered a rough few seasons, struggling with injury in 2019 and then illness in early 2020.

He returned to Grand Tour racing at the Tour de France, where he was never in contention for the win, but still finished seventh overall. 

Dumoulin had hoped his form would improve for the Vuelta, as Jumbo-Visma try to make up for the disappointment of losing the Tour with Roglič one day from Paris. 

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But Roglič has once again emerged as the strongest rider in the team, winning stage won and taking the leader’s jersey with a five-second advantage to his nearest rival, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers).  

Tom Dumoulin and Primož Roglič will both ride the Vuelta a España after their huge disappointment at the Tour de France.

The Jumbo-Visma pairing will be hoping for some success after Roglič came within one day of winning the Tour, before the dream fell to pieces on the final time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles. 

Roglič, with Dumoulin riding in support, finished second in the Tour after leading the race from stage nine as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) took the victory with a huge ride in the TT.  

Dumoulin has now confirmed that both he and Roglič will be lining up in Spain as joint leaders on October 20, in the hopes of finding some redemption.

Appearing on Dutch TV channel  1Limburg, Dumoulin said: "If I am better in the Vuelta, he will ride for me and if Primož is better again, then we have the same scenario as in the Tour. I don't want to ride for myself and then finish seventh.”

Dumoulin is looking to be back on form after he struggled with injuries and illness over the last two seasons, finishing seventh in the Tour and second in the stage 20 TT.  

Since finishing the Tour, Dumoulin has finished 10th in the World Championships TT, then 14th in the road race, before taking 12th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège last weekend. 

Meanwhile Roglič has carried his form from the Tour, finishing sixth in the Worlds and then taking victory in Liege as Julian Alaphilippe raised his arms too early. 

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Winner of the 2017 Giro d'Italia Dumoulin said: “I am where I want to be. I ride very well and get a little better every week. I hope to really feel the top form again, if not this year then next year."  

Tom Dumoulin will be back to racing this week in the World Championships time trial, after a bittersweet Tour de France. 

The Jumbo-Visma rider had to sacrifice his own chances of winning the yellow jersey early in the 2020 Tour, but he was still among the strongest in the race by the third week. 

After controlling the race from stage nine, Jumbo were poised to win the race with Primož Roglič before the huge performance by eventual victor Tadej Pogačar on the stage 20 time trial. 

Despite the disappointment of his team losing the Tour and finishing second in the Tour’s only TT, Dumoulin showed great form after battling through illness and injury over the last two season. 

The 29-year-old has confirmed he will now race in the 31km-long Worlds TT in Imola on Friday (September 25), after initially saying he was unsure if he would race again so close to the Tour. 

Jumbo are also reportedly targeting the Vuelta with Dumoulin in October, with the possibility Roglič and Sep Kuss may also race in Spain. 

Speaking after the Tour, Dumoulin told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “I'm going back home for two more days and on Wednesday I will fly to the World Championships. That depends on how I feel. Friday's time trial is still subject to change. I have agreed with national coach Koos Moerenhout that I will see how I get out of the Tour. 

“I feel good, but I have had a difficult time. It has been quite a lot and I don't want to overload myself and take that back to next year. I'm going to have a nice rest and then you will see me again in Imola.”

But Dumoulin has now confirmed he will race the TT, in the hopes of repeating his 2017 win. 

Competition will be strong in this year’s race however, as reigning champion Rohan Dennis will be looking to defend his title after a quiet restart to the season so far. 

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Dennis’s Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Filippo Ganna also looks to be in phenomenal form after he crushed the field in the final stage TT of Tirreno-Adriatico.   

Tom Dumoulin has revealed he considered retirement before the Tour de France 2020.

The Jumbo-Visma rider has battled back from injury, illness and kept his motivation through the coronavirus pandemic to become one of the key figures in this year’s Tour.

But Dumoulin has revealed he considered leaving the sport earlier this year, when he thought he had lost another season to bad luck.

The Dutchman told broadcaster Nos: “I had a terrible time after my knee injury. Then my intestinal complaints, which I got over in the spring and then coronavirus. I can say I was closer to stopping than continuing”.”

Dumoulin’s misfortunes started early in the 2019 season when he crashed out of Giro d’Italia in the first week, suffering a knee injury that would take him out for the rest of the season.

After finally recovering from the knee wound, Dumoulin was ready to start his 2020 season at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February, but was forced to pull out on the eve of the race after he was diagnosed with stomach parasites. 

When he finally recovered from the illness, the UCI suspended all racing due to coronavirus and it was unclear when racing would return. 

Dumoulin didn’t race for more than a year, but still finished seventh in the 2020 Tour de France, working as a key lieutenant for Primož Roglič, and finished second in the stage 20 time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles.

 Dumoulin said: “From May I tried to pick up the thread again. I love cycling and I started working for the Tour. In the preparation it went better and better, but to this day I am not comfortable on the bike. It is not the feeling that I am looking for, but I am still proud that I have finished seventh. ” 

The 29-year-old is now considering his chances in the World Championships time trial on Friday (September 25), but says he will see how he feels.

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He added: “It has been quite a lot and I don't want to overload myself and take that into next year. I'm going to have a nice rest and then you will see me again in Imola.”  

Tom Dumoulin says he went into the Tour de France 2020 with the goal of winning the yellow jersey, but that dream disappeared in the Pyrenees. 

The Jumbo-Visma rider had put himself into the top-10 in the opening week and was just 13 seconds outside of the race lead as the race went into the first real mountains on stage eight.

But on the road to Loudenvielle, Dumoulin felt he wasn’t strong enough to stay with the leaders and instead sacrificed himself to ride for Primož Roglič. 

Speaking on the first rest day of the Tour Dumoulin, winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia, said:  “For myself I would have liked more of course. I came here with the goal to win the Tour de France with the team and also with the idea of me being the one doing it. 

“That disappeared over the last weekend. Luckily Primož is on a great level and is in the yellow jersey now so I think he’s the best of the race right now and we hope to defend it until Paris.” 

Dumoulin has slipped back to 14th overall as the race heads into the second week, 3-22 off the lead, while Roglič leads by 21 seconds over Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).  

Jumbo-Visma have been the dominant team in this year’s Tour, winning three stages so far with Roglič and Wout van Aert.

While the Dutch squad had planned to race for both Dumoulin and Roglič, they were forced to improvise when mountain domestique Sepp Kuss lost touch on stage eight.  

Then on the Col de Peyresourde, Dumoulin radioed in to tell his team-mates he wasn’t feeling good and that he’d ride for Roglič.  

After putting in his turn, Dumoulin lost two minutes on the stage and then lost more time the following day. 

The 29-year-old said: “For me personally I would like to have better legs and it didn’t happen. What you hope and what happens, that’s two different things.”

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Dumoulin said he hasn’t been feeling his best in the first week, but he hopes to find his form in the final third of the race. 

Tom Dumoulin suffered what he described as a "stupid fall" on stage two of the Tour de France.

The Dutchman is the latest Jumbo-Visma rider to have a hiccup as they prepare to mount a challenge for the general classification, with Primož Roglič having arrived in Nice bandaged up from his fall at the Critérium du Dauphiné and George Bennett going down hard on stage one of the Tour.

"It was a bit of a stupid fall," Dumoulin said. "I don't know exactly what happened. I looked to the left and at that moment Michał Kwiatkowski came by and before I knew it I was on the ground.

"Fortunately I have no pain, just bumped my knee a little. I think that's okay otherwise. It will work out. Fortunately, I was able to return soon."

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Wout van Aert helped pace Dumoulin back up to the front group, and he arrived at the finish having lost no time, another day survived for the Dutch WorldTour team.

"Tom's fall was a downside. As a result, we lost Wout who helped Tom get going again. I don't think we could have competed for the win otherwise because there was no one left to ride behind those three," said sports director Frans Maassen. "But the plan was to finish with Primož and Tom in the first group and we succeeded. We were in control all day and didn't do anything too crazy. So in that respect the stage went well.

"The most important thing is that our riders are very strong and that we are in good shape. And we have faith in our plan. We took the initiative today in the places we wanted to get through safely. So that's okay. It is also better to drive from the front than to chase the facts."

The first real test of the GC contenders will come on stage four, with a summit finish on the category one Orcières-Merlette, where we may see the first showdown between Jumbo-Visma and Ineos.

Tom Dumoulin has labelled the descent that caused his team-mate Steven Kruijswijk and Bora-Hansgrohe's Emanuel Buchmann to abandon the Critérium du Dauphiné "a disgrace".

The two GC riders crashed on the descent of the Col de Plain Bois, with team leader Primož Roglič also crashing later in the stage but making it to the finish and retaining the race lead.

"It was a disgrace that that descent was in a race," Dumoulin said, vexed after the finish. "The whole descent was really tricky but the first two or three kilometres were full of gravel, potholes, bumps in the road, 15 per cent drops down.

"That they still put things like this in a race is…well, I’m really angry about it and I’m pretty sorry for Stevie [Kruijswijk] that he has to go home because of this because he was in great shape. I hope he’s going to be okay for the Tour. But even if he makes it, it’s not ideal for his preparation. But this downhill should never be in a race."

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Later on, reports came in that race leader Primož Roglič had also crashed, heaping misery on Jumbo-Visma after what had thus far been a near-perfect performance at the Dauphiné.

Wout van Aert says that in the aftermath of the crash he thought Roglič was going to quit the race, that he looked a bit dizzy, but the Slovenian was paced back into the bunch and lost no time as he finished safely in the GC group.

"I’d stopped for a piss and Primož was still on his bike in front of me, but when I came back up all of the cars had all stopped," Van Aert explained after the stage.

"At first I thought he was going to quit the race because he seemed really dizzy. I said, ‘come on, let’s keep on going.’ And when we got back in the bunch I could immediately see that he was clear in his head, that he was ready to race and that was really good to see. He’s a big champion and even with a few scratches he continued and kept his focus on his job."

Roglič went as far as to get into his team car, ready to abandon. "For one moment he did get into the car," Van Aert added. "Like I said, he looked a bit dizzy, a bit shocked. But I stayed with him and I think the bunch slowed down because the yellow jersey had crashed."

Jumbo-Visma coach Grischa Niermann confirmed the road where Kruijswijk crashed was "very, very bad" and that the team will have to wait before knowing the full extent of their rider's condition.

"First there was Steven’s crash on the descent from the first climb where there was a lot of gravel on the road. It was a very dangerous descent, the road was very, very bad, a bit over the top. He crashed on a corner and dislocated his shoulder and I think they could only put it back in when he got to the hospital. We have to wait and see," Niermann said.

"We knew it was a tricky descent but you’re fighting with all of the other teams to get to that downhill first," Dumoulin added, explaining the run-up to Kruijswijk's crash. "We had the lead but eventually Groupama-FDJ sprinted to the top and took over. They set an okay pace on the downhill, but there was the gravel on the road and [Kruijswijk] just slipped away.

"We know that in cycling anything can happen at any time, both positive and negative. That’s one reason why we’d like to go to the Tour with more leaders because you never know what will happen. Today showed that that strategy is not a bad one. But hopefully we can start the Tour with three leaders."

Niermann says the team will wait until tomorrow before making a decision as to whether Roglič starts and attempts to defend his race lead on the final day, before adding that maybe Ineos inadvertently made a great decision in pulling Egan Bernal out of the race before the start of stage four.

"You saw him finish the stage, he was still strong but he was also in quite a lot of pain, brushes and cuts, so we’ll have to wait and see how he is tomorrow.

"You could now say that Ineos made a brilliant move by not letting Bernal start today, but it’s always really easy to say that afterwards."

Forget letting the road decide. Now, Tom Dumoulin decides.

The Jumbo-Visma rider says he needs to get better to stand a chance of winning the Tour de France, and at the moment it's clear Primož Roglič is the strongest, de facto leader of the team. And the same goes for Egan Bernal and Ineos too.

"What I’ve seen so far is that Primož is by far the strongest rider, and that’s nice. But as a team we are also very strong. So far we are right in the running to win this race," Dumoulin said after Roglič extended his GC lead on stage three of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

"It’s not premature to say who our leader is for the Tour. I think it’s Primož, Bernal is Ineos’s leader, and hopefully me and Stevie [Kruijswijk] will improve and hopefully Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome won’t.

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"It could be that the support leaders will be closer to the level of Primož and Bernal in the Tour, and then we’ll just have to see how that works."

Wout van Aert also spoke of Roglič's strength, adding that for the moment he is the strongest of Jumbo-Visma's three leaders.

"We have three leaders but it's clear for everyone that Primož is for the moment at least a bit stronger," Van Aert said. "But on the other hand, the other two guys are also experienced and super strong. So to have them in the team as well is definitely a big advantage."

The Dutchman was having a good day on stage two, the first big mountain day of the Dauphiné, before a bike change thwarted his chances of being at the pointy end of racing on the Col de Porte. He also recognises this is only his second race back since crashing out of the Dauphiné this time last year and still has work to do.

"Actually yesterday I had a better day, but I had to change my bike at the bottom of the climb and today I was a little less strong, but I was still up there, so it’s fine. But I definitely have to improve before the Tour," he said after stage three.

Tom Dumoulin says the transfer rumours surrounding Chris Froome made him "think about my own troubles", with the Dutchman having made a high-profile contract break from Sunweb to join Jumbo-Visma mid-way through the 2019 season.

"That's not fun," Dumoulin told Het Laatste Nieuws of switching team during a season, as Chris Froome was rumoured to have been considering, although Ineos denied this was a possibility.

"I don't know if I should believe the rumours but if he wants to switch during the season it will take energy. I have been very different since last year," Dumoulin said.

Chris Froome is said to be looking at potentially leaving Team Ineos, saying "there are several things to consider", chief among them being internal competition for team leadership ahead of this year's French Grand Tour, where the 35-year-old is looking to win a record-equalling fifth victory.

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Leaving would give Froome sole leadership of a team in this attempt, but would mean losing a strong support squad that in various forms has won seven of the last eight Tours de France.

In comparison, Dumoulin left Sunweb, where he was the out-and-out GC leader, for a Jumbo-Visma squad that already boasted Primož Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk, the former winning the 2019 Vuelta a España and the latter taking the final step of the podium at last year's Tour.

"Now I am not alone anymore," Dumoulin said. "We will soon be riding for who is in the best position. If Steven Kruijswijk is the best of the team, Tom Dumoulin will ride for Steven and then Primož Roglič will ride for Steven. If Primož is the best, the team rides for him. If it turns out that I am the best, I ride for me. That makes you have a very strong team."

This is the gamble that Dumoulin made by joining Jumbo-Visma, with Michael Boogerd saying the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner has already passed his peak and has a "gut feeling" he won't win the Tour this year.

With the strongest teams in the peloton now often adopting 'the road will decide' as the policy for picking their Grand Tour leaders, for the individual it can pay off in a big way or see you sacrifice your own chances.

For Geraint Thomas, who served Froome faithfully for years at the Tour de France, he took his chance when he found himself in the yellow jersey in 2018 and held on all the way to Paris with Froome turning to the role of super domestique. Likewise, in 2019 Bernal took the race lead after stage 19 was halted due to landslide, with Bernal up the road at the time of the race being stopped, and Thomas then riding for his younger team-mate.

"I can't speak for Froome. He must start from his own strength, which is possible with every team," Dumoulin continued, explaining that ultimately a team can't solely carry a rider to victory. "The last ten kilometres of a climb is everyone for themselves. No matter which team, we will have to beat him anyway."

Tom Dumoulin has already passed his peak form, according to retired Dutch pro Michael Boogerd.

Boogerd, two-time Dutch national road race champion in the 1990s and winner of two Tour stages, says he has a "gut feeling" Dumoulin won't win the French Grand Tour this year, and that the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner's best years are behind him.

"I think Tom has peaked. He has had some wonderful years. I hope he will return to his old level," Boogerd told Bureau Sport. "But with everything he has experienced. Whenever I hear or see him, I think he looks very different from when he won the Giro."

Boogerd finished fifth at the 1998 Tour de France, with Dumoulin one of only two Dutch riders to manage a better placing since, the Jumbo-Visma rider runner-up to Geraint Thomas in 2018, while Steven Kruijswijk came third a year later.

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The 48-year-old also thinks the extra pressure and commitments of being a top rider who's won a Grand Tour has negatively affected Dumoulin.

"Then [when he won the Giro] everything was new, he was very spontaneous and cheerful. Now he's agitated. That is also part of it, but it is not the Dumoulin who won beautiful races or had good results in his heyday.

"You will get to this point in your career, but it has gone completely wrong up to now," says Boogerd. "Before that it was all good and everything went well. Everything was a gift. He also rode without stress and without pressure. When you see him, you see a nervous and tense person. I recognise that because that's also been me in the past."

Dumoulin's career has been disjointed since he finished runner-up to Geraint Thomas at the 2018 Tour de France. In 2019 he suffered a knee injury at the Critérium du Dauphiné that ultimately derailed his season, not able to take the start line for the Tour de France and then not recovering in time for either the Vuelta a España or Yorkshire World Championships.

Midway through 2019, he left Sunweb for Jumbo-Visma, where he will now compete with Primož Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk for GC leadership in the Grand Tours. Jumbo-Visma currently plan to take all three contenders to this year's Tour, seeking to end Ineos' five-year run of yellow jersey victories.

Tom Dumoulin says he one day wants to ride Paris-Roubaix ‘like Bradley Wiggins’.

Dutchman Dumoulin has never ridden the cobbled Monument, but has revealed the race is on his bucket list.

But the Grand Tour star said he wouldn’t want to race over the brutal cobbled sectors for fun, but would want to be a serious contender.

In an interview with cycling website Wielerflits, Dumoulin said: “Paris-Roubaix is on my bucket list. I want to ride it once, but with thorough preparation.

“I’d want to be at the start to get the most out of myself. I’m not just going to start somewhere because it’s fun.”

The Jumbo-Visma rider, winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia, has focused on time trials and stage races for much of his career, but is looking ahead to how he would like to develop as a rider.

Dumoulin has only ridden one cobbled Monument in his career – the 2012 Tour of Flanders, in which he failed to cross the finish line.

But the 29-year-old has taken inspiration from British Tour de France winner and a fellow time trial specialist, Sir Bradley Wiggins, who turned his focus on the Classics late in his career.

Dumoulin said: “I really like how Bradley Wiggins handled it. For years he focused on winning a Grand Tour and on long time trials, that was his focus.

“Then he shifted that focus in the last two years of his career and became a Classics rider. I really liked that. I would like to do it that way.”

After winning the Tour in 2012, Wiggins targeted the Monuments until the end of his career in 2016, scoring an admirable ninth-place finish in Paris-Roubaix in 2014.

While Dumoulin is still focused on winning a second Grand Tour, having finished 2nd both in the 2018 Tour and the Giro before he was sidelined through injury through most of 2019, the former time trial world champion feels he could turn his talents to the chaos and tactics of Classics racing.

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He has already tasted the dust of Roubaix however, as he was one of the many Grand Tour contenders taken to unfamiliar territory when the 2018 Tour hit the cobbles on stage nine, making it safely through to finish 19th on the stage.

Tom Dumoulin has quit the Movement For Credible Cycling (MPCC), his reasons being the organisation's decisions regarding this year's Paris-Nice as well as his use of ketones with his Jumbo-Visma team.

The Dutchman has labelled the situation surrounding Paris-Nice a "farce" and that the MPCC should have said the event shouldn't have gone ahead in light of the developing coronavirus pandemic.

He also says the MPCC calling ketone use dangerous is "a very hypocritical attitude", with these two factors making him hand in his membership.

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"I really like the MPCC's philosophy. They pursue a cleaner sport and do not consider the current doping rules strict enough, especially in the field of cortisone use," Dumoulin told Wielerflits. "I can earn income there. They have stricter rules than the official ones. Sunweb were a member of the MPCC and I was personally a member as well."

"But I thought it was a farce around Paris-Nice," the 29-year-old adds. "In my opinion, that race should not have started. Then there was already the corona outbreak, also in France. There were really serious problems. Then the MPCC said nothing about that. Their motivation is that they are there for public health, but driving from Paris-Nice - which was the number one health risk at the time - was totally fine."

Jumbo-Visma left the MPCC in 2015 after the Dutch outfit said George Bennett was wrongly kept out of the Giro d'Italia due to a low cortisol value, stating MPCC procedure was not 100 per cent watertight.

For many cycling fans virtual racing has been a welcome spectacle, allowing us to watch our favourite riders race on pure watts from the comfort of their living rooms, garages and gardens.

But some pros are less convinced by racing in the online world, including stars like Tom Dumoulin and Thibaut Pinot.

Whether it’s the results or the brutal effort of racing indoors, these riders seem less than impressed with the virtual racing scene.

The most recent rider to share his thoughts on racing online is Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), who spoke about the phenomenon during a Zwift session Q and A with Dutch broadcaster AD.

Kruijswijk, who finished third in the Tour de France last season, said: “It is a different sport. You have to adjust tactically with things like drafting.

“If you train on it, you will succeed, but it has little to do with our competitions.”

The Dutchman said he does see a future for Zwift racing but as a different discipline, comparing it with football game FIFA, saying you wouldn’t recruit a left winger at PSV Eindhoven because they’re good at video games.

Kruijswijk’s team-mate and compatriot Tom Dumoulin shared a similar sentiment, suggesting there was a limit to what you can learn from a virtual race.

Winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia Dumoulin told De Limburger: “The results are not to be trusted either – they say nothing.”

“The devices [turbo trainers] come from different brands and are not properly calibrated, which is essential. Weight must be exactly correct, otherwise it will be unfair.”

Dumoulin pointed to the Virtual Tour of Flanders as an example, where Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert finished 10th despite being “the king of pedalling power.”

He added that virtual racing is “better than nothing.”

During the coronavirus crisis, teams have been forced to find a new way of gaining exposure for their sponsors and staying in touch with their fans, with many outfits choosing virtual racing as a way to keep their riders visible.

Velon and the Tour de Suisse recently held the Digital Swiss Five series of races, with Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) emerging as the star rider, while Remco Evenepoel was left chasing despite being one of the strongest riders in the world out on the road.

French Grand Tour star Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) is another rider who is sceptical about the virtual revolution.

Pinot told Sporza: “Those virtual races fascinated me for two week, but now that’s enough.

“I’d rather be in lesser form when lockdown is over than squeeze myself mentally now.”

Former world champions Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) have both spoken about their dislike of training indoors, as Valverde argued indoor training can burn you out physically and mentally.

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Sagan’s team-mate Lennard Kämna raced his first virtual event during the Digital Swiss, with the German telling DW: “It’s a whole different ball game, so you can’t set the same standards for the two.

“I believe it’s not ideal for professional cycling. It’s a nice diversion for now, but it lacks the flair of a true road race.”

But Kämna said he did see a big future for virtual racing, with people able to train into the evening and throughout the winter.

Tom Dumoulin was anticipating a much simpler 2020 season.

The Grand Tour star suffered a turbulent year in 2019, after a prolonged knee injury derailed his ambitions.

Dumoulin then came into the new season fully fit and with a new team, Jumbo-Visma, before his luck ran out once again.

After he was forced to miss his first scheduled race of the year, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana after he was diagnosed with stomach parasites, the global coronavirus crisis upended the entire cycling calendar.

It is currently unclear when pro racing will return, but Dutchman Dumoulin does see an opportunity to redesign the season.

In an interview with Belgian broadcaster Sporza, Dumoulin said: “I had high expectations, but this year has not brought any luck so far.

“This is a crazy situation. I came from a rotten year and had high hopes for 2020 – now we are going full throttle after knee injury.”

Dumoulin says it is unlikely the Tour de France, his major goal for the year, will go ahead on its scheduled date, but he says it could be moved closer to the Vuelta a España, while the Giro d’Italia could be run to overlap with one of the other Grand Tours.

The 29-year-old also suggested that the cycling calendar should be extended to mid-November with the spring Classics held in the early October or early November, with the World Championships in its usual spot of late September.

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He added: “I think every season should move on for a month. In mid-November, the weather here in Belgium and the Netherlands is often fantastic, whereas in mid-February we sometimes still have snow.

“If we extend the season to November, we can start a month later in 2012 and continue that in future. That seems fantastic to me.”

Dutch superstars Mathieu van der Poel, Annemiek van Vleuten and Tom Dumoulin have responded to the major news that the 2020 Olympics have been postponed.

This week, the Japanese Prime Minister announced the Tokyo games would be delayed because of the coronavirus crisis, with Olympics now set to take place no later than summer 2021.

While the decision has been met with approval by many, a number of athletes have shared their disappointment over the news, including those within British Cycling. 

Van der Poel, who had planned to ride the Olympic mountain bike event this summer, told Belgian broadcaster Sporza: “It’s very unfortunate that the games have been postponed, but I understand the decision.

"Global health comes first, it is all about sports. On the other hand, I am left with a bad feeling. Four years ago we drew up a plan towards the Tokyo Games and now that plan has been washed away.”

Alpecin-Fenix rider Van der Poel says he may be forced to choose between his debut Grand Tour and the Olympics next season.

World champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott), who crashed out of the 2016 Olympic road race in Rio, told news agency ANP: “Not all athletes will have the same opportunities now.

“It is a good decision. I am happy that we are now free of that uncertainty.”

Tom Dumoulin, silver medallist in the 2016 time trial, added: “It’s understandable that the Olympics are being postponed and it’s good that a decision has already been made at this stage. This provides clarity. It’s too bad for me and many other athletes, but I suppose and I hope that we can look forward to the Olympics in the next year. At this moment, there are more important things in the world than sports."

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Dumoulin’s Jumbo-Visma team-mate, Wout van Aert, said: “For me personally, it increases my chances of being selected, because it gives me more opportunities to show myself.

“Now that this wise decision has been made, the different sports also get the chance to amend their calendars. In cycling, that provides the space to reschedule races or to possibly reschedule the Tour.

“So I’m not too disappointed. Hopefully there will be other goals for this year.”

Tom Dumoulin is looking forward to making his racing debut for Jumbo-Visma at the 100th Volta a Catalunya after a solid training block at altitude on Tenerife.

Dumoulin, who is training with his team-mate and winner of the 2019 Tour de l'Avenir, Tobias Foss, is finally happy with where he is in regards to his form after getting over intestinal parasites that forced him out the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

Speaking to Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner said: "On the plane to Spain I had to go to the toilet every ten minutes, so I returned home immediately. At that moment we checked the stool and it came out that I was suffering from a parasite."

The 29-year-old was set to make his 2020 debut in Spain last month, after a long lay-off due to a knee injury that forced him out of last year's Giro.

But the Dutchman's luck abandoned once again on the eve of Valenciana when he fell ill.

Dumoulin has taken time to recover and is ready to return to the peloton, but cycling calendar still faces a lot of uncertainty because of the global spread of coronavirus.

He said: "Hopefully the virus dissolves slowly as it gets warmer. This uncertain situation is very frightening for most riders.

"My advantage is that I have been used to it for almost a year now that there is no really clear plan for my return. Maybe that's why I come out the best of all riders from this period."

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Dumoulin is down to ride the Tour de France alongside an immensely strong team including last year's Vuelta a España winner, Primož Roglič and third place at last year's Tour, Steven Kruijswijk.

He says that the Tour, along with the Olympics in Tokyo, are his goals to make it a "beautiful summer."

Tom Dumoulin has revealed the illness that has delayed the start of his 2020 season is intestinal parasites.

The Dutch Grand Tour star was looking to start the new season with a bang as he races in Jumbo-Visma colours for the first time, but his run of bad luck has continued.

Dumoulin was forced to pull out of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on the eve of the race due to illness, later announcing that he would also be skipping Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo.

In his latest update on Instagram, Dumoulin said he is now taking medication after discovering he has intestinal parasites but he is already back to training.

The 29-year-old said: “As you all know, I had not been feeling well recently.

“Last week we found parasites in my gut and since then I started medication.

“I am feeling much better as I have had good training sessions today and over the weekend. I’m looking forward to planning my season start and next goals very soon. I’ll keep you posted.”

Dumoulin had a tough 2019 season, suffering a nasty knee injury in the opening week of the Giro d’Italia which took him out of the rest of the season.

After a brief return at the Critérium du Dauphiné, he has been absent from the peloton to give himself a chance to recover.

During his recovery, Dumoulin announced he would be leaving Sunweb after seven years to join Dutch team Jumbo-Visma.

He is now expected to make his debut for Jumbo at the Tour of the Basque Country in April.

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Dumoulin is building his season around the Tour de France, where he is expected to fight for the yellow jersey alongside his new team-mates Primož Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk.

Tom Dumoulin has had to delay the start of his season again after pulling out of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana due to illness.

The Dutchman’s run of bad luck continues as he was due to make his return from a long-running injury last week, but was forced to fly home for recovery due to illness.

Dumoulin, now racing in Jumbo-Visma colours, will also skip Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo to allow him to get back to full fitness.

In an update posted on Instagram, Dumoulin said: “Unfortunately I had to abandon Valencia last week. I would have flown to altitude camp this Thursday to prepare for the next races, but we have to postpone until I feel 100 per cent again.

“We will change my racing schedule by skipping Tirreno and MSR to allow me the time I need to get back to full strength again.

“It’s such a shame because I was feeling amazing and I couldn’t wait for the season to start. Too bad I need to wait a little longer now.

“To quote the famous philosopher Run DMC: ‘it’s like that, and that’s the way it is.’”

Dumoulin, the winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia, had a rough 2019, suffering a nasty knee injury in the opening week of the Giro and being forced to abandon his plans for the year.

After a brief return at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the 29-year-old has been absent from the peloton to give himself a chance to recover.

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During his rehabilitation, Dumoulin also made the major change by leaving Sunweb after seven years, joining the new Grand Tour power team Jumbo-Visma.

The 29-year-old is now expected to make his season debut at the Tour of the Basque Country, then heading on to the Ardennes Classics and the Dauphiné before he targets the Tour de France in the summer.

Tom Dumoulin has been forced to pull out of his first race of the year, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

The Dutch star was set to make his debut in Jumbo-Visma colours in Spain this week, after a highly anticipated move from Sunweb.

But after a season he would rather forget last year, Dumoulin has now been forced to delay the start of his 2020 due to illness.

In a statement on Instagram, Dumoulin said he fell ill over night and will return home to the Netherlands.

The 2020 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana still has a stacked roster - view the full start list here. 

He said: “The guys have just left for a training ride here in Valencia. Unfortunately, without me.

“I got sick last night and I will return to home to recover.

“This is now the way I wanted to start the season, but we have to be wise.

“When you don’t feel well, you’d better not race. I came to Spain to build up my condition, not to break it down.

“I hope to be back soon.”

Dumoulin, the winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia, had a rough 2019, suffering a nasty knee injury in the opening week of the Giro and being forced to abandon his plans for the year.

After a brief return at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the 29-year-old has been absent from the peloton to give himself a chance to recover.

During his rehabilitation, Dumoulin also made the major change by leaving Sunweb after seven years, joining the new Grand Tour power team Jumbo-Visma.

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Dumoulin will target the Tour de France alongside 2019 Vuelta a España winner Primož Roglič and compatriot Stephen Kruijswijk this season.

The next race Dumoulin is expected to race is Tirreno-Adriatico in March.