{"id":187015,"date":"2021-10-25T12:29:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T12:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=187015"},"modified":"2021-10-25T12:33:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T12:33:51","slug":"tom-dumoulins-topsy-turvy-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/10\/25\/tom-dumoulins-topsy-turvy-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Dumoulin\u2019s Topsy-Turvy Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

This has been a very unusual year for the Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin \u2013 and it has nothing to do with the Covid-19 pandemic. In January, the 30-year-old Jumbo-Visma rider decided to take an indefinite, unpaid time-out from the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really as if a backpack of a hundred kilos has slipped off my shoulders,\u201d he said when announcing his move. \u201cI have been feeling for quite a while that it is very difficult for me to know how to find my way as Tom Dumoulin the cyclist \u2013 with the pressure that comes with it, with the expectations of different parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Dumoulin at the 2020 Tour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dumoulin made the decision to step away from the sport just after Jumbo-Visma had announced that he would be given a leadership role at the Tour de France alongside Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Slovenian crashed badly on stage three of the Tour and was forced to quit before stage nine, apparently leaving Jumbo-Visma without a GC contender. But the young Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard stepped up and surprised the racing world by finishing second behind Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

Dumoulin\u2019s pressing of the \u2018pause\u2019 button on his career came as something of a shock, as it came after two excellent years. He won the Giro D\u2019Italia<\/a> and the World Championship Time Trial, both individual and team, in 2017 and finished second in the Worlds, the Giro and the Tour the following year. He seemed to be on the verge of joining the elite of Grand Tour riders when the pandemic struck and disrupted the racing calendar. An excellent individual time trial (ITT) racer as well as climber, he has the necessary tools to become a champion. What was missing, suddenly, was the motivation.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Celebrating the win of the 2017 Giro d’Italia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Making changes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whatever Dumoulin did in the five months he was away from racing apparently reignited his passion for road racing. He returned to the sport in late June of 2021 for the Tour de Suisse, happy to work as a domestique for his teammates.<\/p>\n

“The problem of the last three years was that I lost the pleasure in my job and the race,” Dumoulin told the Belgian newspaper<\/a> Het Nieuwsblad before the Tour de Suisse.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I had forgotten what I liked and didn’t like. Now I know that again. That period without racing was very instructive for me. I know again what kind of rider Tom Dumoulin is.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then won his national ITT for the fourth time and finished second in the Tokyo Olympics ITT, behind Rogli\u010d. He was training for the Road World Championships when he got into an accident and broke his wrist, putting an end to a truly topsy-turvy season.<\/p>\n

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\ud83e\udd15<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u201cMy season is finished. That\u2019s a big deception, because I just got really good at it again." – @tom_dumoulin<\/a><\/p>\n

Get well soon, Tom! \ud83c\udf40<\/p>\n

— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) September 9, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n