Teams & Riders Tom Dumoulin discussion thread

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

i hope he will crush wiggo's hour in two years time

In two years the record won't be Sir Wiggio's! I hope that Tom gets the record this fall!

I agree with others that I hope he follows a Fabio C. & Tony M. path and doesn't try to become a GT GC guy.

Entirely agree. The next Spartacus.

I doubt that Wiigo´s record will be beaten in the next few years

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

How can he win the TT in Suisse and then fail this test???

He hasn't fully recovered from his efforts at the TdS. I mean he was beat pretty good. He was obviously just off pace.

If he is tired this long after a 1 week race, maybe GTs are not his cup of tea

Perhaps he went very hard in the TdS. He was trying to go for the overall win. He went very deep on the queen stage remember. In a gt he would have days where he can relax since he won't be going for a high gc place. IMO this won't hamper his goals for the Tour at all. I think his first goal is to get yellow on day 1. He has a good shot at taking it imo.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

What. Was. That.

Quite amazed. Ofcourse he is strong on hills, but normally not this type. Hope he can win a normal stage this vuelta (outside of the ITT)

 

[Red Rick]

What. Was. That.

Quite amazed. Ofcourse he is strong on hills, but normally not this type. Hope he can win a normal stage this vuelta (outside of the ITT)

Totally

Best Dutch thing on 2 wheels

 

[BigMac]

Yea he's great. I didn't expect such a strong return after crashing out of the Tour.

 

[Irondan]

He's a machine!

Looking forward to seeing Tom tear up the Vuelta. Stage 2 was just a preview...

 

[PremierAndrew]

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

 

[Irondan]

Re:

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

He already is a contender. Tour de Suisse was a very competitive race in which Tom D had a real chance at winning.

To me he's already shown that he's with the Spilak and Porte crowd (one week contenders).

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

He already is a contender. Tour de Suisse was a very competitive race in which Tom D had a real chance at winning.

To me he's already shown that he's with the Spilak and Porte crowd (one week contenders).

Well yea, but the competition at Tour de Suisse isn't exactly the same as Paris Nice Tirenno Dauphine etc. He's obviously a contender amongst lesser fields at one week races, but I'd like to see how he fares against real GT contenders if he focuses on developing that way instead of as a pure TTist

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Re: Re:

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

He already is a contender. Tour de Suisse was a very competitive race in which Tom D had a real chance at winning.

To me he's already shown that he's with the Spilak and Porte crowd (one week contenders).

Well yea, but the competition at Tour de Suisse isn't exactly the same as Paris Nice Tirenno Dauphine etc. He's obviously a contender amongst lesser fields at one week races, but I'd like to see how he fares against real GT contenders if he focuses on developing that way instead of as a pure TTist

This guy is the real deal (not just for one week races)... If he wasnt giving that stupid interview a few days ago ("Im not 100% yet"), he was a safe bet for a T-10/T-15 in this Vuelta... Ok, he´ll finish up there anyway now, only not talking about it upfront. His 30th at the TdF (AFAIR his first GT) two years ago showed the direction he´d go.

 

[Kwibus]

Tom tom tom...
Wow.. for a moment I thought he was going to do it, but by the looks of it he was on his limit for an entire 2km so not much left to sprint with then.
It was only wheelsucking, but still amazing that he's capable of doing this. Never thought he could.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

He already is a contender. Tour de Suisse was a very competitive race in which Tom D had a real chance at winning.

To me he's already shown that he's with the Spilak and Porte crowd (one week contenders).

Well yea, but the competition at Tour de Suisse isn't exactly the same as Paris Nice Tirenno Dauphine etc. He's obviously a contender amongst lesser fields at one week races, but I'd like to see how he fares against real GT contenders if he focuses on developing that way instead of as a pure TTist

This guy is the real deal (not just for one week races)... If he wasnt giving that stupid interview a few days ago ("Im not 100% yet"), he was a safe bet for a T-10/T-15 in this Vuelta... Ok, he´ll finish up there anyway now, only not talking about it upfront. His 30th at the TdF (AFAIR his first GT) two years ago showed the direction he´d go.

I'm convinced he's not targetting the GC of a GT. Allthough a better climber then T. Martin he will never be able to climb with the best.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Re: Re:

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

He already is a contender. Tour de Suisse was a very competitive race in which Tom D had a real chance at winning.

To me he's already shown that he's with the Spilak and Porte crowd (one week contenders).

Well yea, but the competition at Tour de Suisse isn't exactly the same as Paris Nice Tirenno Dauphine etc. He's obviously a contender amongst lesser fields at one week races, but I'd like to see how he fares against real GT contenders if he focuses on developing that way instead of as a pure TTist

This guy is the real deal (not just for one week races)... If he wasnt giving that stupid interview a few days ago ("Im not 100% yet"), he was a safe bet for a T-10/T-15 in this Vuelta... Ok, he´ll finish up there anyway now, only not talking about it upfront. His 30th at the TdF (AFAIR his first GT) two years ago showed the direction he´d go.

I'm convinced he's not targetting the GC of a GT. Allthough a better climber then T. Martin he will never be able to climb with the best.

Of which he actually did just this year. Imagine... So I better go with Jean-Claude Leclercq, who even praised him higher than I ever did: He could finish a GT T-3 if giving it a try.

 

[IndianCyclist]

this was a very short climb. lets see on the longer climbs. likely that he will get dropped there. But good show on stage 2 dropping Quintana Roche

 

[Gigs_98]

Dumoulin to win the vuelta.

 

[Kwibus]

@foxxybrown
Since the quote system is wank on thsi forum I reply to your last post here.

He didn't climb with the best this year. Stage 2 this Vuelta the big ones didn't shoot their powder and in Suisse he didnt climb with the best. He climbed well, but not well enough to be GT contender. Well enough to fight for week long stage races.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Tom tom tom...
Wow.. for a moment I thought he was going to do it, but by the looks of it he was on his limit for an entire 2km so not much left to sprint with then.
It was only wheelsucking, but still amazing that he's capable of doing this. Never thought he could.

Dumoulin initiated the attack so it wasn't only wheelsucking. It was on the steeper parts though. But that's normal, you wouldn't expect Dumoulin to pull Chaves on a 10%+ part

 

[johnymax]

Re: Re:

I am starting to wonder if he could develop into a GT contender. Could possibly win a TT heavy GT like the 2012 Tour with a decent team, but could definitely become a real contender for quite a few 1 week stage races

He already is a contender. Tour de Suisse was a very competitive race in which Tom D had a real chance at winning.

To me he's already shown that he's with the Spilak and Porte crowd (one week contenders).

Riders like Porte, Spilak and Costa are consistently winning or top3 on any kind of one week WT races (climbing/TT heavy or balanced route), while Dumoulin has been a contender only in Eneco Tour and one or two other TT heavy races. Those other guys are still much better on longer climbs although Tom is younger and is still improving.

As far as his performance yesterday, it was great, especially considering his quick recovery after the injury. But it wasn't that surprising to me. On Rettenbachferner he showed he can outclimb some very good climbers even on such monster of a climb. There he put a minute into Chaves, Gesink and beat Majka among others.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Re:

@foxxybrown
Since the quote system is wank on thsi forum I reply to your last post here.

He didn't climb with the best this year. Stage 2 this Vuelta the big ones didn't shoot their powder and in Suisse he didnt climb with the best. He climbed well, but not well enough to be GT contender. Well enough to fight for week long stage races.

No prob. We can differ. But I think Jean-Claude Leclercq put it best (and repeated it again today): If Dumoulin goes for it, a T-3 in a GT is possible for him. I guess Leclercq knows a thing or two about cycling...

Oh, and he is in the wrong team. They only care about sprinters protection who dont win lately.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

@foxxybrown
Since the quote system is wank on thsi forum I reply to your last post here.

He didn't climb with the best this year. Stage 2 this Vuelta the big ones didn't shoot their powder and in Suisse he didnt climb with the best. He climbed well, but not well enough to be GT contender. Well enough to fight for week long stage races.

No prob. We can differ. But I think Jean-Claude Leclercq put it best (and repeated it again today): If Dumoulin goes for it, a T-3 in a GT is possible for him. I guess Leclercq knows a thing or two about cycling...

Oh, and he is in the wrong team. They only care about sprinters protection who dont win lately.

Sure LeClercq knows a lot about cycling, but that doesn't mean he is right. Merckx says a lot of ridiculous stuff as well, not too mention de Vlaeminck.. They are cycling heroes, but that doesn't mean they are right at everything they say about cycling.

Giant isn't focused on sprinters only anymore. They passed that period, but they do have 2 class sprinters so it would be silly not to play those cards.
They started their focus on sprinters when the team started to get garanteed success as it's the easiest way to success in cycling. They intentionally got in talented riders/climbers with a view to the future. To try and win a GT in the future or atleast compete for victory.
Barguil doesn't have it imo and Craddock is a typical great rider in the US, but not so on WT level. Or they fail to develop them, but I doubt that.

And ofcourse we can differ. Obviously i hope you are right tbh, but I'm afraid he will only kill his career if he starts trying to be a GT rider.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

True, Craddock & Barguil are in the mix now. So they are no more a sprinters team. I think they just dont know what to do with Dumoulin. Let him try GT sucsees, or let him be a career ITT rider (which would be one great waste).

 

[BigMac]

I think he's so good at what he does. Aiming at GT sucess would most likely mean he would lose some of his current and broad abilities, and he'd no longer be a contender for time trials, Ardennes and even one-week races at the same time, which would be a shame. He's about one of the best all-rounders there is, why ditch a certain and bright future of success for GT focus, that may lead nowhere.

 

[classicomano]

Lets just look at next year when he will win Paris Nice, and go from there.

 

[gunara]

Re: Re:

Giant isn't focused on sprinters only anymore. They passed that period, but they do have 2 class sprinters so it would be silly not to play those cards.
They started their focus on sprinters when the team started to get garanteed success as it's the easiest way to success in cycling. They intentionally got in talented riders/climbers with a view to the future. To try and win a GT in the future or atleast compete for victory.

Agree. Major Tom's ship knows which way to go. Beside, I think Giant feature sufficiently in the GT mountain for a team with such orientation (I know they have to do it with someone like Timmer sometimes, but some less sprinter-oriented WT teams often fail to be seen at all at altitude). The peloton looks alright having such team in it, there are enough mountain trains.

 

[Kwibus]

First GT leaders jersey in the pocket! Well done Tom!