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.”
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.”
