Teams & Riders Tom Dumoulin discussion thread

[acf69]

Tom is highly intelligent and a deep thinker, and even when he won the Giro he was a nervous wreck always thinking what can go wrong. I also believe his physical issue when he had to get of his bike was as much mental and stress related. There is now way he comes back, he started cycling at a late age and realized he is good at it, but he does not love it. He will enjoy his newfound freedom so much that he will never want to go back to the grinding and stress needed to win the Tour.

I agree with another poster that he is suffering from depression.

 

[Rollthedice]

Better quit now than finish like Aru. It was fun until it wasn't so he'll be happier I guess.

 

[hrotha]

You may want to change careers without it having anything to do with depression y'all.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Certainly a surprise. I thought that his form in last year's Tour was pretty good, coming back from the knee injury.

Regardless of what happens from now on, he's had a great career.

 

[savornin]

Sad situation. It's been clear that he was struggling mentally and physically since 2019. Tom is a very sensitive man, not a robot or a killer. He has brought a lot of joy to many Dutch like me, and others as well. Dutch cycling hero. Could have been a TdF winner. All the best to you Tom, hope you will feel better. Hope to see you back on two wheels, but if not, thanks for everything. (Btw no i do not expect him to read this)

 

[Gargamel35]

He went to Jumbo team thinking it would be less pressure on him with other big Guns in the team. But he is Dutch and so is Jumbo and he got coCaptain spot quickly despite not the best form.

And then you see all the young talent beating even a robot Roglič (and you are way behind Roglič in training) and you simply loose passion. Tom could never be a Dom, he's a winner and was always a Captain. He probably did all the training this winter, came to training camp and saw reality.

It's a good call for him and disaster for Jumbo Visma. It's all on Roglič again and i don't expect K. will help in any capacity.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Is Dekker Tifosi ok?

 

[Leinster]

Sounds like Big Tom doing a Kittel?

I hope he’s doing what’s best for him, but it’s a shame to see him go.

After the Vuelta in 2015, if you told me he’d finish (and that’s most likely what’s happening here) his career with just 1 GT win, I’d have called that disappointing. And that he only gave the Tour one proper go for the GC (in 2018, and finished 2nd) is frustrating from the outside looking in.

As I said in a different thread, the TJV move never felt right to me. The switch from being the sole leader of a small team, to being a co-leader of a big team, isn’t less pressure. It’s still pressure, applied differently. I have no idea how much that relates to his decision now.

 

[mrgmyers]

As I do not have the access to Tom to know why he is stepping back that some here appear to have. I would just like to thank him for giving us all some fantastic racing conducting himself as a gentleman and giving me and millions of others so much pleasure, I hope he comes back to racing but most of all I hope he is happy.

 

[webvan]

He went to Jumbo team thinking it would be less pressure on him with other big Guns in the team. But he is Dutch and so is Jumbo and he got coCaptain spot quickly despite not the best form.

And then you see all the young talent beating even a robot Roglič (and you are way behind Roglič in training) and you simply loose passion. Tom could never be a Dom, he's a winner and was always a Captain. He probably did all the training this winter, came to training camp and saw reality.

It's a good call for him and disaster for Jumbo Visma. It's all on Roglič again and i don't expect K. will help in any capacity.

Yeah the numbers probably just aren't there and he can't face having to do a season similar to last year's where he started races hoping to be the leader and then just fading badly or being DNF.

It's really sad because he has to love cycling to be where he's at and he could certainly have a very satisfying and lucrative role as a super dom, not everyone has what it takes to win GTs and stay at the top. Those who've been following cycling for a while will likely remember Jeff Bernard who looked like Hinault's heir having done a first great tour in 1986 and then nearly won it in 1987 after a phenomal ITT on the Ventoux where he obliterated the competition. Bad luck and poor decisions the next day made him lose it. He tried again until 1990 (was in contention for the Giro in 1988 before he nearly froze in the snow) and then...decided he'd enough shouldering such responsibilities and failing and went on to ride for Miguel Indurain, playing a big part years 4 of his TDF victories (Gérard Rué was impressive too). Now he's still in cycling and is a pundit of sorts.

I suppose he just doesn't have it in him to get over that reality that he's not the best and it doesn't bode well for his future endeavors...

 

[markene2]

Cant find any thread in the right subforum so im just going to post it hete.

Anyone thinking that it might be clinic related? just like Menchov retired out of nowhere after Paris Nice, and it was swept under the rug, came out a year later though.

I like the guy Hope he Will return

 

[tobydawq]

Cant find any thread in the right subforum so im just going to post it hete.

Anyone thinking that it might be clinic related? just like Menchov retired out of nowhere after Paris Nice, and it was swept under the rug, came out a year later though.

I like the guy Hope he Will return

I don't think you can "just post it here"...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

beside it being *** it's highly unlikely. Anyone who followed Dumoulin the last few years knew he had big problems ever since that injury in 2019. And he was already struggling with suddenly being famous in 2018..

 

[will-10]

Sounds like Big Tom doing a Kittel?

I hope he’s doing what’s best for him, but it’s a shame to see him go.

After the Vuelta in 2015, if you told me he’d finish (and that’s most likely what’s happening here) his career with just 1 GT win, I’d have called that disappointing. And that he only gave the Tour one proper go for the GC (in 2018, and finished 2nd) is frustrating from the outside looking in.

As I said in a different thread, the TJV move never felt right to me. The switch from being the sole leader of a small team, to being a co-leader of a big team, isn’t less pressure. It’s still pressure, applied differently. I have no idea how much that relates to his decision now.

Equally, it was clear he was mistreated by Subweb regarding his injury in 2019 which prompted him racing injured, which extended how long it took him to get back - arguably he never did even through 2020. That's a long time to be chasing fitness, and it's a hard enough game without the weight of the world (read: Dutch press) on your shoulders.

Wish him all the best for the future.

 

[@NL_LeMondFans]

Cant find any thread in the right subforum so im just going to post it hete.

Anyone thinking that it might be clinic related? just like Menchov retired out of nowhere after Paris Nice, and it was swept under the rug, came out a year later though.

I like the guy Hope he Will return

I'm not insinuating anything as I don't know anything...

But late december dutch TV aired a documentary where Dumoulin raised doubts about his performance in the Tour, reportedly saying "I'm having a hard time understanding. I don't see how I could have gone 90" faster".

(sorry, source is in french, couldn't find a report in english)

Primoz Roglic et Tom Dumoulin s'interrogent sur les performances de Tadej Pogacar sur le Tour de France

Dans un documentaire diffusé par la chaîne de télévision néerlandaise NOS, Primoz Roglic, dépossédé du Maillot jaune à la Planche des Belles Filles, et Tom Dumoulin, 2e du chrono, s'interrogent sur la montée impressionnante de Tadej Pogacar.

www.lequipe.fr

I was disturbed by this comment because it was very similar to the comments Greg LeMond had made after the Luxembourg ITT in the 1992 Tour de France regarding Indurain.

I don't know if Dumoulin doubted his own abilities or other rider's and how much of a factor it was in his decision but... it seems likely this disbelief had an impact on him.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm not insinuating anything as I don't know anything...

But late december dutch TV aired a documentary where Dumoulin raised doubts about his performance in the Tour, reportedly saying "I'm having a hard time understanding. I don't see how I could have gone 90" faster".

(sorry, source is in french, couldn't find a report in english)

Primoz Roglic et Tom Dumoulin s'interrogent sur les performances de Tadej Pogacar sur le Tour de France

Dans un documentaire diffusé par la chaîne de télévision néerlandaise NOS, Primoz Roglic, dépossédé du Maillot jaune à la Planche des Belles Filles, et Tom Dumoulin, 2e du chrono, s'interrogent sur la montée impressionnante de Tadej Pogacar.

www.lequipe.fr

I was disturbed by this comment because it was very similar to the comments Greg LeMond had made after the Luxembourg ITT in the 1992 Tour de France regarding Indurain.

I don't know if Dumoulin doubted his own abilities or other rider's and how much of a factor it was in his decision but... it seems likely this disbelief had an impact on him.

I disagree getting beaten by Pogacar in the Tour ITT had anything to do with it. He was struggling tremendously way before that happened. His comments are in to show the disbelief at Pogacars performance, in turn defending their own tactics up til that point in the race.

 

[Netserk]

Clinic thread: https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threads/dumoulin.30049/

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Glad to see someone else isn't exactly surprised either.

Zonneveld: "Als er een weg terug is voor Dumoulin, dan niet als ronderenner"

Het meest verbazingwekkende nieuws van de afgelopen sportweek kwam van Tom Dumoulin. De Nederlander zet zijn fiets tijdelijk aan de kant. In onze podcast De Tribune sprak Thijs Zonneveld uitgebreid over de muizenissen in het hoofd van zijn landgenoot.

translate.google.com

"I found the timing surprising", said Zonneveld in De Tribune. "It is not surprising that he is taking a break and is considering quitting. This has been going on since 2018 or perhaps even since his overall victory in the 2017 Giro."

 

[Escarabajo]

Why are you guys dancing around the bush like that? Dumolin pulled his best watts eve rin the PDB TT yet he wasnt competetive to someone like Pogacar. he knows that the pace in in cycling ha sgone up dramatically ove rthe last year and to win something hell have to go Thermonuclear. He doesnt want to take that risk and so he considers rertiring as riding a s a domestique isnt attractive to him.

If that was the reason then why not stay one more year and get that money which is so lucrative. Just because you have a personality that cannot accept losing, it is not a good reason for not staying one more year with that salary. Depression and other related issues are a good reason for stopping. You just literally cannot push the pedals anymore.
Now if he has been warned about something else, then that is also a good reason for quitting.

 

[Rackham]

If that was the reason then why not stay one more year and get that money which is so lucrative. Just because you have a personality that cannot accept losing, it is not a good reason for not staying one more year with that salary. Depression and other related issues are a good reason for stopping. You just literally cannot push the pedals anymore.
Now if he has been warned about something else, then that is also a good reason for quitting.

I watched "Code Yellow", i.e. the Dutch behind the scenes documentary at the Tour De France within the Jumbo team which aired in December.

Week one was literally the Tom Dumoulin meltdown show, i.e. he was constantly unhappy; notably at team tactics (which forced him to even apologize to Tony Martin in a team briefing after complaining in the stage the day before), his position on the bike which he constantly moaned about (which even prompted Grischa Niermann i.e. the Jumbo sporting director to suggest it's "in his head" at one point), he complained about Wout drilling it too hard (on the stage which Roglic won) & then broke down in tears on the Pyrenean stage in which he disobeyed team orders. And then in the Vuelta (in which he was supposedly co-leader), he quit after one week when it became clear he'd be Roglic's domestique again.

So anyone who has followed Jumbo pretty closely over the past year won't be surprised by this latest bit of drama, although the timing (i.e. literally one day after Dumoulin himself was interviewed about his season's plans) was really "odd". I'm thinking something happened behind the scenes & we'll never really find out. In any case, I don't really see a way back for him now.

 

[Escarabajo]

Thanks for the information. I didn't watch "Code Yellow", but it sounds like he has some issues. He probably stresses out too much with cycling. That will harm your performance that's for sure.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Thanks for the information. I didn't watch "Code Yellow", but it sounds like he has some issues. He probably stresses out too much with cycling. That will harm your performance that's for sure.

I think that it would be better for him to forget about riding gc in a gt, if he returns to road cyling.
I get the feeling that he'd be a lot happier if he'd focus on stage hunting, TTs, shorter stage races and maybe also one day races.
That said, can't blame him. He has made seven figures for few years, so he should have enough money on the side, being happy and your mental health is probably more important to him.

 

[pastronef]

I think that it would be better for him to forget about riding gc in a gt, if he returns to road cyling.
I get the feeling that he'd be a lot happier if he'd focus on stage hunting, TTs, shorter stage races and maybe also one day races.
That said, can't blame him. He has made seven figures for few years, so he should have enough money on the side, being happy and your mental health is probably more important to him.

also, if he comes back will he still race with Jumbo? I don´t know..

 

[Lequack]

From the good old times

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Really disappointing to hear but not overly surprising. I became a big fan in 2016 - 2018, and in 2018 it seemed like he was the just a moment from beginning his rein as the indisputable king of GC riders. That 2/2 Giro/Tour combo was legendary and his a lack of a victory that year, to me, undersells his performance. Probably could have beaten Froome with better tactics, probably could have beaten GT if he hadn't ridden the Giro.

But it's been clear that he's had issues for a couple of years. Seems like constant dissatisfaction. Not condemning him, by any means. But when you compare his attitude and previous comments to what you see from Froome or previously Contador or Lance, etc., and it's just a different headspace. Would love to see him come back, but I think that seemingly insignificant fall in 2019 was the beginning of the end for him, and this looks like the end.

Didn't end up the multiple-Tour champ I thought he would, but there's a ton of luck involved, and he has a helluva set of palmares to be proud of. Still a fan, no matter what he decides.