Jumbo-Visma bounce back from Etna disappointment on the road to Potenza at Giro d'Italia

Tom Dumoulin and Koen Bouwman deliver Dutch victory on stage seven

Giro d'Italia
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Until Friday, it is safe to say that Jumbo-Visma had experienced a disappointing opening to this Giro d'Italia. It must have been unusual for a team as successful as the Dutch powerhouse to have to deal with this adversity: first Tom Dumoulin was denied victory on the stage two time trial by five seconds; then he, Tobias Foss and Sam Oomen all lost time on stage four to Mount Etna, with Dumoulin's GC hopes all but ended that early; then Oomen was part of a freak crash post-stage five.

Quite quickly, the team realised that they would have to reorganise and reshape their entire race plan. They managed it so quickly that on the first stage they could have really won - they don't have a sprinter at the race - they managed it. Koen Bouwman took his first Grand Tour stage win in an almost comfortable fashion, after one of the hardest days racing possible.

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Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing, speaking to people as varied as Demi Vollering to Philippe Gilbert. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.