Teams & Riders Tom Dumoulin discussion thread

[Afrank]

Shame that he lost out on the podium, but a very good vuelta for him regardless. He proved to everyone and to himself the kind of rider he could be in the future. And he sure did make it a real race.

 

[BigMac]

Has my respect. Best all-rounder around.

Hopefully, though, this near-miss doesn't turn him into a GT zombie.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Has my respect. Best all-rounder around.

Hopefully, though, this near-miss doesn't turn him into a GT zombie.

Sagan?

The first two pages of this thread are an interesting read now

And yeah, fully agree that TD should give it a bit more time before deciding on developing into a stage racer

 

[jsem94]

Respect. I hope he develops even more and can contend the GTs and stage races coming in even as a favorite, and that he can also compete well in the classics. He could become a legendary rider.

 

[BigMac]

Has my respect. Best all-rounder around.

Hopefully, though, this near-miss doesn't turn him into a GT zombie.

Sagan?

The first two pages of this thread are an interesting read now

And yeah, fully agree that TD should give it a bit more time before deciding on developing into a stage racer

I forgot. They're probably equal, though Tom climbs (and time trials) better than Sagan, and Sagan has the sprint Tom does not. Great riders. Though after Cali I'm not sure anymore of what Sagan can and cannot do.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm so gutted right now. It's exactly as i feared.. But he never deserved to fall so far in the gc.
I'm going to drink myself into a coma tonight. Cya sometime next week. I need to recover

 

[BigMac]

Seeing him end up behind Majka is something I can't resign myself with, too. Even Chaves and Quintana. Poor guy.

 

[TI-Raleigh]

Gutted for Tom, but he just isn't there yet. And that is okay! He has plenty of time to develop into a true GT-er, but until then, hope he continues to develop as an all-rounder. Doesn't he feel like a Tejay 2.0? Much more exciting, as Dumoulin can feature in hilly stages AND dominate TTs, while Tejay can do neither.

Next year Tom should give the Ardennes a serious try, ride the Tour looking for a stage win, and then give Vuelta GC a try (providing the route has a long TT).

 

[jens_attacks]

with a strong team, he would have never lost the podium today. i don't think he cracked, but as it's normal, he's not the top climber of this race.
he will learn from this, i'm sure.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

he only learnt he has to move team

 

[jens_attacks]

Re:

he only learnt he has to move team

that's a must, of course. or maybe the german guys will bring lots of domestiques

but c'mon he had to be really alien to win a climber's race (!) without a team. even if his rivals weren't exactly sharp

 

[del1962]

Gutted for Tom D, man of the race for me, today was a day he needed a team.

 

[Carols]

It was a grand race by Major Tom. He walks away with 2 stages and while the win was ripped away he should hold his head up proudly. He is young and has a glorious future in front of him. He made this race a great experience for all of us! Thanks Tom!

p.s. I'm really sad he missed the podium

 

[ray j willings]

Defeated by a monster Astana. TD needed team mates but that was such a beating at the end I doubt it would have made the difference. But now he is a serious GT contender and will have learnt huge amounts. Next years tour has just got another player.

 

[gunara]

he only learnt he has to move team

I'm still not sure. He'll be able to win what he can with the current team. Barguil or Preidler might have to look behind a lot if they have to pull for him in a long climb at level form, let alone stronger climbers. Don't get me wrong, I like Tom, for what he is, I just can't picture he's automatically qualified to lead for grand tour GC in a more climbing-oriented teams.

 

[yaco]

Giant Alpecin will be tempted to go for the Giro in 2016 with its 3 ITT's.

 

["Jeff"]

Probably posted already, but no Giant-Alpecin riders up front was an amateur mistake.

 

[SeriousSam]

Was nice will it lasted but the GC experiment is over. Back to winning small time TTs and coming third or second in big time TTs

 

[classicomano]

Its too bad, but like I said, this whole Vuelta has been one conquering victory for him already, cant really feel sad. Next year he will win Paris Nice and the gold medal in Rio.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Giant Alpecin will be tempted to go for the Giro in 2016 with its 3 ITT's.

The Giro starts in the Netherlands with a 11km ITT, he should be at the start. The third ITT will be a MTT, if it's a MTT on a not so steep climb like in 2013 it could be interesting, but his big goal for 2016 is the olympic ITT.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

he only learnt he has to move team

But that shouldnt be his job at the first place, the directeurs failed not placing Craddock in the break imo since the rest of the team is utter crap in this terrain anyways. Degenkolb coulda maybe have helped, but...

Anyways, even if Dumoulin fans, I think you should be happy for a extremely good last 60 km instead of the passive racing we have witnessed. I know thats harder said than done!

 

[Red Rick]

Dumoulin should not all of a sudden start going for GT's every time he does it. He's never trained for that before.

I think a gradual approach would be a lot better. Maybe try to lose a tiny bit of weight, whilst regaining the power for the tt's. No way he should jeopardize his TT now.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Was nice will it lasted but the GC experiment is over. Back to winning small time TTs and coming third or second in big time TTs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkodTydUR0E

 

[Pippo_San]

He's definitely a contender for one week stage races, and such a breakthrough won't go unnoticed. He's the new kid on the block, and now he's gonna have offers, and his programme will definitely target stage races.


So all's well that ends well!

 

[ray j willings]

Re:

Was nice will it lasted but the GC experiment is over. Back to winning small time TTs and coming third or second in big time TTs

https://youtu.be/QPacLabmsM4