Teams & Riders Tom Dumoulin discussion thread

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Had they cleaned that knee weeks ago...

 

[SafeBet]

Sad news, hopefully can come back stronger at the end of the season.

 

[movingtarget]

Sanity prevails and the Vuelta is a still possible.

 

[Robert5091]

Hope he can make a full recovery for the Vuelta.

 

[Carols]

Vuelta and Worlds ITT upcoming!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Perhaps he can finally do a Lombardia in good shape as well. So far he was usually too tired or over his top shape there.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Perhaps he can finally do a Lombardia in good shape as well. So far he was usually too tired or over his top shape there.

But but but but

What about Hammer Series?

 

[JosephK]

I'm wondering also whether the imbedded piece of gravel isn't the only issue. It's reported that there was some cartilage damage. Now that can be painful for a long time -- several months easily.

 

[Koronin]

I'm wondering also whether the imbedded piece of gravel isn't the only issue. It's reported that there was some cartilage damage. Now that can be painful for a long time -- several months easily.

If there is cartilage damage (hadn't read it, but it could be possible), that will take longer to recover from.

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Had they cleaned that knee weeks ago...

yep
but it's possible this wasn't the only thing causing the knee trouble though

 

[Robert5091]

I'm wondering also whether the imbedded piece of gravel isn't the only issue. It's reported that there was some cartilage damage. Now that can be painful for a long time -- several months easily.

Yep, I wondered that too - one bad knee can end a sports career.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No, he said in the same interview that since the gravel has been removed his knee doesn't "whine" anymore.

It's just that with 10 stitches he can't move freely and theres too little time to prepare TDF.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

No, he said in the same interview that since the gravel has been removed his knee doesn't "whine" anymore.

It's just that with 10 stitches he can't move freely and theres too little time to prepare TDF.

Exactly. Just take that time to heal. There is plenty of time ahead of the Vuelta.

 

[Bardamu]

Re: Re:

Perhaps he can finally do a Lombardia in good shape as well. So far he was usually too tired or over his top shape there.

But but but but

What about Hammer Series?

This just hurts reading it. I can imagine Spekenbrink wanting Dumoulin to skip Lombardia for the Hammer Series.

 

[Bardamu]

Although Lombardia is a week after his Tour de Dumoulin, he might want to end his season after it.

 

[Red Rick]

Now Matthews is really really pissed lol.

Sunweb is such a garbage team

 

[Bolder]

Re:

Now Matthews is really really pissed lol.

Sunweb is such a garbage team

Frankly those were garbage comments from Matthews. Seriously? Why not just say, "I'd focused on supporting Tom, but now I'll be able to target some stages that fit my profile. I haven't done a lot of sprint training but I'll give it my best."

I mean, I'm glad he's saying what he feels but really, it's not how you support a teammate. I'm sure Dumoulin would much rather be at the Tour than picking stones out of his knee...

 

[Davesta]

Re: Re:

Now Matthews is really really pissed lol.

Sunweb is such a garbage team

Frankly those were garbage comments from Matthews. Seriously? Why not just say, "I'd focused on supporting Tom, but now I'll be able to target some stages that fit my profile. I haven't done a lot of sprint training but I'll give it my best."

I mean, I'm glad he's saying what he feels but really, it's not how you support a teammate. I'm sure Dumoulin would much rather be at the Tour than picking stones out of his knee...

On the other hand, I appreciate his honest comments.
And whilst I'm sure there's two sides to the story, it sounds like he's been given a bad wrap by the team - he's sacrificed his entire season (including a ride at the Giro) to support TD's bid for yellow. I would guess from his comments that he hasn't had much update from the team about TD's knee, and so hasn't been able to prepare himself for other goals, and TD's withdrawal is a bit of a surprise to him, hence his "confusion".

Sunweb are well known as a team that operate in a very rigid fashion, but it's still a surprise to hear that Spekenbrink told the riders they "shouldn’t have any ambitions [themselves]".
Given they're paying €€€s for riders like Matthews, it seems a bit of a waste of that money to allow them no personal ambition...

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

Now Matthews is really really pissed lol.

Sunweb is such a garbage team

Frankly those were garbage comments from Matthews. Seriously? Why not just say, "I'd focused on supporting Tom, but now I'll be able to target some stages that fit my profile. I haven't done a lot of sprint training but I'll give it my best."

I mean, I'm glad he's saying what he feels but really, it's not how you support a teammate. I'm sure Dumoulin would much rather be at the Tour than picking stones out of his knee...

On the other hand, I appreciate his honest comments.
And whilst I'm sure there's two sides to the story, it sounds like he's been given a bad wrap by the team - he's sacrificed his entire season (including a ride at the Giro) to support TD's bid for yellow. I would guess from his comments that he hasn't had much update from the team about TD's knee, and so hasn't been able to prepare himself for other goals, and TD's withdrawal is a bit of a surprise to him, hence his "confusion".

Sunweb are well known as a team that operate in a very rigid fashion, but it's still a surprise to hear that Spekenbrink told the riders they "shouldn’t have any ambitions [themselves]".
Given they're paying €€€s for riders like Matthews, it seems a bit of a waste of that money to allow them no personal ambition...

I agree, but I'd say that for any team, winning the TDF is worth sacrificing the ambitions of every rider on their team. If they thought Tam was going to win and Matthews was a key part of that, I think most teams would make the same decision, no matter what they're paying him. It's pretty much how Sky operated and how Ineos have continued.

 

[Red Rick]

If they thought he was gonna win they shouldn't have *** sent him to the Giro in the first place.

 

[Leinster]

Re:

If they thought he was gonna win they shouldn't have **** sent him to the Giro in the first place.

For a team with a reputation for being run in a rigid fashion, they seem to have been making TD’s program up as they go along. If Bling thought at the start of the year that he was doing the Giro, then it’s really not clear what they were thinking sending Dumoulin instead.

In fairness to that, I doubt they imagined Tom would crash and be carrying a chunk of asphalt around in his knee for the next 2 months, so you kinda have to salute the ambition of the guy who thought he could give the double a go. But the slapdash nature of it all must be frustrating for Matthews.

“Sunweb are well known as a team that operate in a very rigid fashion, but it's still a surprise to hear that Spekenbrink told the riders they "shouldn’t have any ambitions [themselves]".
Given they're paying €€€s for riders like Matthews, it seems a bit of a waste of that money to allow them no personal ambition...

Sunweb are paying riders like Matthews a lot of money to win races like San Remo, the Ardennes, the Canadian classics, and pick up stage wins. It’s clear that what Spekenbrink meant was that nobody should go to the Tour with any personal ambitions. I doubt anybody at the Tour de Suisse has been told “don’t go winning any stages, we’re all about yellow for Tom here.”

 

[yaco]

Ultimately when you have four or five leaders in the team, then management must be clear at the beginning of the year regarding programs for the leaders that can co-exist - Sunweb have done themselves no favours and Matthews is off-contract.

 

[movingtarget]

Matthews is free to do his own thing at the Tour. Plenty of riders would like that option. Obviously he is frustrated with the build up and the collapse of the plans with Dumoulin. Time for some sprint practice.

 

[pastronef]

Traksel not mincing his words about Sunweb

https://twitter.com/WestemeyerSusan/status/1142126190603513857

 

[Rollthedice]

It's all Puccio's fault really.