Dumoulin gets back to competition in mountain bike race on the beach
Nearly six months after he last raced at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tom Dumoulin kitted up on Sunday in the Netherlands at the Scheveningen strandrace – a mountain bike event on the beach.
Beautiful day at Scheveningen beach at the Jeep MTB Beachrace ??
Gerben 16th, Bram 17th and Martin 29th behind winner Rick van Breda. Good to see Tom Dumoulin back in action again! pic.twitter.com/B8MPSJ5AEy— KMC mountainbiketeam (@MTBteam_com) December 1, 2019
The 29-year-old Dutchman, winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia and the 2017 world time trial title, missed much of the 2019 season after a crash at this year’s Giro left him with a lingering knee injury. He returned to racing at the Dauphiné, but pulled out of the event before the seventh stage. He then had knee surgery and missed the Tour de France.
In August, Dumoulin’s Sunweb squad announced that rider and team would be parting ways after eight years, and shortly thereafter, Jumbo-Visma announced the signing of Dumoulin for next year. Dumoulin did not compete on the road for the remainder of the season.
He got back to racing on Sunday at Scheveningen, and as he remains under contract with Sunweb through the end of the year, he rode competed in Sunweb kit on the beach.
Rick van Breda of the Monkey Town-à Bloc Continental squad took the win. Dumoulin finished sixth in the event, an encouraging sign as he works his way back to form following his long stretch away from competition.
As his transition to a new team looms, Dumoulin has said he is targeting next year’s Tour de France and the subsequent Tokyo Olympics.
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