Tom Dumoulin says Tour de France 2019 route ‘not ideal’ for his style
The Dutchman previously said he plans to target the Tour next season
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.