Tom Dumoulin (32) finally squeezed his brakes last summer. The former Giro winner discovers life after the race and also starts working as an analyst at NOS. Christophe Vandegoor spoke with Dumoulin in a fresh episode of our podcast Sporza Koers about the success of Jumbo-Visma, Remco Evenepoel and the Giro and his own career.
Tom Dumoulin moved to Jumbo-Visma in 2020, but Dumoulin was still a shadow of the tour rider he had been in the years before and opted for an (early) retirement last summer.
Dumoulin of course knows the internal kitchen of the yellow-black formation. He also looks with great admiration at how the team blows everything and everyone away this spring.
“Richard Plugge and Merijn Zeeman have built a team from almost nothing and have gathered super good people. Not only riders, but also staff,” Dumoulin explains.
Everything is in perfect order at Jumbo-Visma and that creates a feeling of joint invincibility. This team radiates that and the results only boost it even more.
“I don’t know a team that is doing better at the moment. They insist on the group feeling, but they also automatically create that feeling. Everything is right.”
“Everything is in perfect order and that creates a feeling of joint invincibility. Like: “We have the best food app, the best wheels and we had the best stage.” This is what this team radiates and the results only give it more boost.”
There are many roosters in one yard. How do you reconcile all those ambitions? “If it reinforces each other, it’s beautiful.”
“Look at the Tour: if you tell Wout van Aert that he should only ride in the lead, then he is not a good rider. But if he can do his thing like last year and have to help the team on certain days Then that’s fantastic.”
“If people had only ridden for him last year, I don’t think he would necessarily have won much more in the Tour.”
“It also boosts morale: cycling is not just science. Everyone helps each other and yet you can go for your own thing.”
Tom Dumoulin and Jumbo-Visma during the 2020 Tour.
“Jumbo-Visma is on course. Then I enjoy”
And so Jumbo-Visma dominates the spring from A to Z for the time being. “No one could have predicted that”, Tom Dumoulin admits.
“They already had such a good team and then they attract top riders. They also have a huge appeal. Those top riders also see that everyone gets a chance. Then you better ride with the best team.”
“It is also not like we saw in the Sky years. They rode in the lead, broke everyone and the best won. But Jumbo-Visma makes it race. Then I enjoy.”
“Whether it is so much fun for the neutral viewer, I don’t think,” laughs the former grand tour winner. “I’d rather see a mess myself.”
Would I have done the same in Gent-Wevelgem? Yes. I also rode with Christophe Laporte at Jumbo-Visma for another year. He is truly a faithful and loyal warrior.
The cycling enthusiast did get a striking plot twist on Sunday with the denouement in Gent-Wevelgem. And that provoked a lot of opinions.
“Van Aert is so under a magnifying glass in Belgium. It is sometimes difficult to deal with 101 opinions, especially when a great ex-rider like Tom Boonen says something that you do not agree with yourself. That can be stimulating. “
“Would I have done the same in Wevelgem? Yes,” the Dutchman replies firmly. “I also rode with Christophe Laporte at Jumbo-Visma for another year. He really is a loyal and loyal warrior.”
“As far as I know he never questioned the tactical plan where he has to sacrifice his own chances. He was always in line.”
“If the situation arises, it is only right that a leader like Van Aert can say: ‘I am so happy with the work you have already done for me. This victory is for you and for the team.”
“Of course he wouldn’t give away the Ronde and I understand the discussion, but it is to Van Aert’s credit as a rider and as a person. I think I would have done the same.”
But teammates can also become competitors later on. “This way you can look for something behind everything. Also don’t forget: it is possible that Laporte will ride behind Van Aert a little less quickly than behind another rider later on, for example, at a World Cup.”
Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte on the podium at Gent-Wevelgem.
Listen to the full podcast with stories about Remco Evenepoel, the Giro and his own farewell:
