News: Tom Dumoulin Stops Racing

Tour de France & Giro stage winner as well overall winner of the Giro, Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo Visma) has decided to stop cycling for an indefinite period

News: Tom Dumoulin Stops Racing

Tom Dumoulin has decided to stop cycling for an indefinite period says his team Jumbo Visma. “I would like to do very well for a lot of people, but that made me a little bit forgotten about myself last year. That slowly made me unhappy. That is why I am taking a break for a while” says Dumoulin.

Winner of the Giro in 2017 – photo: PelotonPhotos

“I have felt for quite some time, months, maybe even a year actually, that it is very difficult for me to know how to find my way as Tom Dumoulin the cyclist,” says the Dutch rider in a video for his Jumbo-Visma team. “With the pressure that comes with it, the expectations of different parties, I really want to do very well for a lot of people, but that has made me a little bit forgotten in the past year”.

“What do I really want, what does man Tom Dumoulin want with his life at the moment? That is a question that has been bubbling up deep down for a few months and I actually don’t have the time to answer that question.”

After all, life as a professional cyclist goes on and on. “But that question is there and I always did not have the time to actually answer that question. What do I want? Do I still want to be a cyclist? If so, how? If I want to win the Tour, how do I want to get there? And now I have the feeling that I don’t know anymore.

In any case, the winner of the Giro d’Italia 2017 wants to talk and phone people a lot in the near future. “I’m going to think a lot, take the dog for walks and look for ‘what do I want as a person with the bike’? ‘What do I want with my life’? I made the decision yesterday. The team supports me in this and it feels good. It feels like a backpack of 100 kilos is gone. I immediately woke up happy. It feels so good that I finally made the decision to take some time for myself. ”

Dumoulin does not feel sad about his decision but can understand that many people will find it incomprehensible. “I have been attracted to all kinds of things about that for too long, what people think about it. It is about time that I got what I want for myself. You know, in the end, all those people, and the people in the team, my teammates and especially myself, don’t benefit at all if I keep muddling around now and then finally finish twelfth in the Tour, then fifth in the Olympics. That is of no use to us either. I have been muddling around for too long with those doubts in the back of my mind.”

“A few years ago, I achieved very good results and I became “Tom Dumoulin, the great Dutch cyclist” once and for all. People have a lot of expectations for that. As a top athlete, your own expectations are already very difficult to manage. Maybe I still want to be a cyclist, but then it is important that I don’t care as much about what other people think about it.”

Teammate Wout Van Aert about the news Dumoulin is stopping

“I was surprised but less surprised than the outside world. He has had a difficult year and has been away for a long time. Last year it went with ups and downs. I hope for him that this is a decision that sees him come back stronger”. Van Aert continues. “It is a difficult question whether I can understand his quitting, because I feel good about myself. I like to ride a bike so it is difficult for me to understand that someone is losing their pleasure to do the same. Everyone has difficult times. We must respect that. I hope for him that this is not an end anyway.”

Dutch Source: