Cycling, Dumoulin thinks about his comeback: "I could give a hand to the youngsters"

Rome, 21 April 2025 - In cycling sometimes they come back, as the women's side has demonstrated this year Anna van der BreggenThe class is the same, always the '90, the one of early and perhaps premature retirements: also Tom Dumoulin he is thinking about carving out a role for himself in the sport of which he was an excellent interpreter until 2022.  

Dumoulin's statements

  In 10 years of professionalism, the Dutchman has written his name on the roll of honour of the Giro d'Italia, won in 2017, also the year of the world time trial title, the house specialty: his bag also includes 4 stages right at the Corsa pink, 3 al Tour de France e 2 to the Return. Then the light went out a bit, as explained by the person concerned to the microphones of Het Nieuwsblad. "In the first part of my career, everyone from coaches to nutritionists were working to put the pieces of my puzzle in place. At that point I was able to start working on myself with great desire. At that moment I had the feeling that I was building my career. In recent years, however, I had simply become a piece in someone else's puzzle. I had become just the one who had to follow orders. No one ever asked me what I thought about training and nutrition, and that's what stopped me". In short, a cycling that seems very different from that of today's stars like Tadej pogacar e Mathieu van der Poel. "The best runners today are those who manage to balance everything best. pogacar e Van der Poel They both came to their teams when they were young, and were encouraged to listen to their bodies and how they felt. Mathieu still has a lot of autonomy: he gulps well, uses science, but he is the one who decides which races to participate in, when he wants to be in shape and when he wants to go play golf for a week". Today, however, it seems, runners are immediately placed in a circuit that, not surprisingly, presents rhythms that are not sustainable for everyone, as demonstrated by the numerous premature withdrawals. And here comes the idea of ​​the return of From the mill, a calm and moderate figure in a group and even more so, who knows, maybe in the team car or behind a desk. "A few years ago I didn't want to come back. My idea was to start studying again. But I realized that it would be a shame not to share my experience. I don't want to lead a team right away, that's not my role, but I think I could be useful in providing psychological support to the riders. I think that if a rider has the feeling of being the one managing his own career, he can go much faster. Often those who rely only on science don't have this extra energy". The Dutchman closes by citing the model of 'his' Visma-Lease a Bike. "His data-driven approach has achieved a lot of success for many years and with many runners. But now they have lost athletes like Fem Van Empel, Cian Uijtdebroeks e Christophe Laporte, which is why it's important to balance everything with the human aspect."

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