Tom Dumoulin could become the first Dutchman since 1980 to win a Grand Tour if he can hold off Fabio Aru (Astana) in the Vuelta a Espana, but can his Giant-Alpecin team help him to glory?
Netherlands-based squad LottoNL-Jumbo offered their support to the German team, with their own aspirations in the race all but over, but directeur sportif Addy Engels turned them down.
Should Dumoulin hope to emulate Joop Zoetemelk, who won the Tour de France 35 years ago, he will have to cling on to a three second advantage over Aru with a team that is woefully inequipped to control the race in the mountains.
“We didn’t pick a team thinking that one of our riders would have the lead at this stage,” Engels told Spanish newspaper AS. “We wanted stage wins with Degenkolb and Tom. This situation exceeds our expectations.”
Inside Giant-Alpecin's toolbox
With LottoNL-Jumbo's best-placed rider, George Bennett, sitting in 31st the Dutch team said they'd gladly put some of their resources towards helping one of their countrymen to victory.
“That’s forbidden by the rules of the UCI, so we will support Tom to the extent of our capabilities and we won’t resort to any irregular strategy,” Engels added.
Giant-Alpecin will need to go head-to-head with the seven remaining members of the Astana team which is stacked with climbing domestiques, while the German team's nine members are mainly suited to targetting sprint wins.
How LottoNL-Jumbo will now try to help Dumoulin will be interesting to see, but even with Lotto's eight remaining men it will be a tough ask for the Dutch to prevail.
-
-
Nextbike returns to Cardiff after 'staggering' amount of bike vandalism and theft
The bike hire company suspended operations for two months after 300 bikes were stolen and a further 260 were vandalised
-
Michael Woods aims to put Canadian cycling on the map with Israel-Premier Tech
He says he's aiming to win a a stage of the Tour de France or a monument this year, his 'big goal' in cycling
-
Primož Roglič relieved to put Vuelta a España crash behind him with stage victory
The Slovenian star won from a characteristic punchy attack on the final climb
-
Primož Roglič says 'no risk, no glory' after crashing on descent on stage 10 of Vuelta a España
The race leader went on the attack on the final climb leaving all of his rivals behind
-
Michal Storer says he ‘knew exactly what he needed to do to win’ on stage 10 of Vuelta a España 2021
The Aussie took another huge victory in Rincón de la Victoria
-
Primož Roglič says he's 'not really frightened' of Movistar or Ineos at Vuelta a España
The defending champion put time into all of his rivals on the ninth stage of the race
-
Primož Roglič concedes Magnus Cort was simply stronger as he narrowly misses out on second Vuelta a España stage win
The defending champion was not able to add to his opening day stage victory but retakes leader's jersey
-
Vuelta a España 2021: Romain Bardet out of GC after heavy crash on stage five
The Frenchman was well placed and was looking in good form heading into the mountains
-
Primož Roglič will attempt to defend his Vuelta a España title as team is confirmed
The Slovenian has won the Spanish Grand Tour two years in a row
-
Vuelta a España 2020: Rider start times for the crucial stage 13 time trial
The battle for the red jersey at the Vuelta a España 2020 goes into the third week with the stage 13 individual time trial from Muros to Mirador de Ézaro
