Dumoulin disappoints home crowd
The Dutch crowd expected a lot from their home rider Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) at the Tour de France Grand Départ. The 24-year-old made a lot of progress this season, recently beating Fabian Cancellara twice against the clock at the Tour de Suisse. Dumoulin featured in every media outfit this week, and he was much requested at the team presentation and the press conference on Friday. Dumoulin is a friendly young man and he was even available for an interview on Dutch TV during the morning of the race.
On a very warm Saturday afternoon, Dumoulin then somewhat collapsed under the pressure and finished just off the podium. He was eight seconds slower than winner Rohan Dennis (BMC). The crowd certainly did all they could, screaming Dumoulin forward from start to finish.
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“The crowd was the only thing I heard. I couldn’t hear my radio anymore. Unfortunately they didn’t shout me to the win,” Dumoulin said, shortly after his ride. "It’s too bad. I’ve beaten Dennis a couple of times. Today he was stronger than me. That’s a bummer."
A look at the statistics show that the two are each other’s match, with Dumoulin mostly having the upper hand during the last two seasons. It's clear Dumoulin lost the race in the second half. Halfway into the 13.8km ride Dumoulin trailed Dennis by a second. On the second half of the course he lost an additional seven seconds. Dumoulin didn't blame the heat, and said he thinks the wind became more of a factor.
"It seems that was the case," Dumoulin told Cyclingnews. “Dennis was really strong. Good job from him. ... I did everything right. I took the corners right. I just didn’t have the power to beat Dennis. For this year I’ll have to deal with it. I’d have loved to be on the top podium spot. I rode a good time trial and there’s nothing more to say about it.” (Brecht Decaluwé)
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