Tom Dumoulin says the 2019 Tour de France is ‘not ideal’ for him because of the high climbs and few time trial opportunities.
The Dutchman previously said he planned to go all in for the Tour de France next season after splitting his attentions this year.
But speaking after the Tour route was announced on Thursday, the 2017 Giro d’Italia winner shared his reservations.
Team Sunweb rider Dumoulin said: “It’s a very tough route.
“Of course more individual time trial kilometres would have been better, so it’s not an ideal course for me, but that was also the case this year.
“There’s a lot of high climbing – 2,000 metres plus – with emphasis on the second half of the Tour with the Pyrenees and the Alps to be decisive.”
Next year’s Tour de France includes just 27km of time trialling, with five summit finishes above 2,000 metres, meaning 2019 will be a year for the climbers over the TT specialists like Dumoulin.
The 27-year-old still put in staggering Grand Tour performances this season, finishing second in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
Sunweb coach Luke Roberts said: “It looks like a course that is designed for the climbers with few time trial kilometres.
“Both the early team time trial and the individual time trial in the second part are pretty limited with the gaps that could open up.
“Looking towards the final week, the mountain stages in the Alps are quite brutal with lots of climbing over 2,000 metres, which really tips the scale much more in favour to the climbers.
“It will be a really tough race decided by those days in the Alps.”
Team Sky’s Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are both optimistic after the first look at the Tour route.
The race suits the likes of Froome, who will be chasing his record-equalling fifth Tour de France win.
Alex is the digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter and now as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output.
Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) and joining CW in 2018, Alex has covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers.
Away from journalism, Alex is a national level time triallist, avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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