Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) will finally get a chance to put his feet up after deciding not to start stage six of the Tour de Suisse due to fatigue.
The Giro d’Italia winner has barely stopped since the start of May, pulling off an unexpected maiden Grand Tour victory in Italy, racing stage one of the Hammer Series just five days later, then heading to the Tour de Suisse to fulfil domestique duties.
27 days of hard racing over 41 days have finally caught up with the Dutchman, who will now head home to defend his national time trial title next week, before spending July with his feet up and watching the Tour de France from the comfort of his living room.
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“Before heading to Switzerland we already knew that our expectations would be taken day by day with Tom,” Team Sunweb coach Marc Reef said. “At the uphill finish of stage four we monitored increased fatigue and yesterday we did it once again.
“The conclusion was that it wasn’t worth continuing to battle and we would rather him recharge his batteries once again for next week’s nationals before taking a break in July, ahead of the second part of the season.”
After the Dutch National Championships, Dumoulin will enjoy a bit of rest, not racing again until the BinckBank Tour which starts on August 7.
