Tom Dumoulin: This period has been liberating

Tom Dumoulin moves from Team Sunweb to Jumbo-Visma for 2020
Tom Dumoulin moves from Team Sunweb to Jumbo-Visma for 2020 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Nearly 300 kilometres from home, and on the outskirts of Nancy in France, Tom Dumoulin brings his car to a sudden halt. There’s still the matter of another 600 kilometres and the long climb to the summit of La Plagne ahead of a pre-Tour de France training camp, but all of that is irrelevant right now as the 2017 Giro d’Italia champion navigates his next move. 

Barely able to bend his knee, unable to mask the pain from the surgery that took 24 hours earlier, and with Tour is just weeks away, Dumoulin can finally see the writing on the wall. He reaches for the phone and when the voice at the end of the line begins to answer Dumoulin doesn’t hesitate. It’s over. He’s turning back.

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Daniel Benson

Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.