Tom Dumoulin will retire at the end of this season
Tom Dumoulin will retire at the end of this season
2017 Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) has announced that he will retire from professional cycling after this season.
“I decided that 2022 will be my last year as a professional cyclist,” the 31-year old Dutchman announced on Instagram. “In 2020 I had a very difficult year and at the end of that year I got overtrained and burned out. At the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 I was only a shadow of myself and I decided at the time to take a break from cycling and think about my future.”
During his time away from the sport the Dutchman felt the spark again, and after visiting his home race Amstel Gold Race in 2021, Dumoulin announced he would return with an initial focus on the Olympic Games time trial. He won a silver medal in Tokyo and later showed fighting spirit in the Benelux Tour, expressing that he was looking forward to a new season.
“After a while I decided to continue my cycling career,” Dumoulin continued. “On the one hand because the Olympic Games were on my mind for five years but on the other hand definitely also because of my love for the bike and the passion I have for this special cycling world. The world that astonishes me so often but just as often makes me feel at home. I was occasionally still able to show my abilities on the bike with last year’s silver medal being the absolute highlight. I am really proud of that performance.
“Despite how good it occasionally still was, many times and especially this year it has been a frustrating path. My body felt tired and still does feel tired. As soon as the [work] load in training or racing gets higher I suffer from fatigue, aches and injury instead of improving. The effort in training did often not lead to the desired performances. For a while there has now been a disbalance between my 100% dedication, everything I do and sacrifice for my sport and what I subsequently get in return.”
Dumoulin started this season at the UAE Tour where he had a good performance in the time trial, but later tested positive for COVID-19 and had to postpone his return to racing again. Then after only two days at the Volta a Catalunya he was forced to abandon due to the lingering affects of the virus. Dumoulin then had two race days near his Limburg home – Volta Limburg Classic and Amstel Gold Race – before lining up for the Giro d’Italia.
The Giro was to be his main focus this season and as a former winner, Dumoulin had high expectations. He just missed out on the win in the time trial in Hungary but had to accept he would not be a contender for the overall win after stage four on Mount Etna. Dumoulin bounced back mentally by helping teammate Koen Bouwman win the seventh stage, but abandoned the race during stage 13.
“With a lot of patience and a cautious training approach I am convinced I could get back to my full potential on the bike. It would be a long and patient road with no guarantees on success. I chose not to take that road but to end my cycling and take a new, unknown path.”
Dumoulin started his career in 2011 with the Rabobank Development Team, the leading development team in the Netherlands. He turned pro with Team It4i and stayed with the team under its subsequent names Argos-Shimano, Giant-Alpecin and Team Sunweb before moving to Jumbo-Visma in 2020.
Dumoulin’s biggest success was winning the Giro d’Italia in 2017 and the time trial World Championship title in 2018. Known for his time trialling abilities he has won stages in Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, as well as the Eneco Tour, Tour of the Basque Country and Tour de Suisse. In 2015 he had his breakthrough while contesting the general classification at the Vuelta a España, where his stage win on Cumbre del Sol will live on in the minds of many cycling fans. Dumoulin’s last win to date is the 2021 Dutch national time trial title.
It is unknown which races Dumoulin will ride in his last season, apart from the World Championships in Wollongong where he will target the time trial rainbow jersey.
“The team and I are now going to make a plan to make the most out of our last months, last months with hopefully still a lot of joy and success,” he said. “I especially look forward to the World Championships in Australia where I hope to get the best out of myself in the time trial one last time.”
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