Tom Dumoulin has sparkled against some stirring backdrops this season, from the rosy-hued streets of Apeldoorn in May to the headlands and hills of Rio de Janeiro in August, by way of the untamed Apennines and the mighty passes of the Pyrenees and Alps.
It was perhaps fitting, then, that his arduous 2016 campaign finally ran out of steam on a long and rather lonesome road to nowhere outside Doha, with only flat, empty expanses and a punishing early Autumn sun for company.
Dumoulin could only manage 11th place in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, simply unable to muster a challenge to eventual winner Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep). Already 22 seconds down at the first time check, the Dutchman eventually came in 2:01 down.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I knew in the last few weeks my shape wasn't very good but I still had some good days, and on Sunday in the team time trial I felt pretty good," Dumoulin said. "I was hoping for a good day today but it turned out to be a bad one, and when your shape isn't good, you suffer even more with the heat. It's a snowball effect. Eventually it turned out to be really bad.
"I didn't come here for 11th place but it is how it is. You can see the guys who were in top shape in the summer, for the Tour and Rio, like [Rohan] Dennis [who placed 6th – ed.], had trouble to maintain that here."
The prospect of a rainbow jersey was enough to convince Dumoulin to prolong his seemingly never-ending season beyond that bittersweet silver medal in Rio 2016 Olympics time trial, and the initial prognosis was promising, as he placed third overall at the Tour of Britain. There were bright moments, too, at the Eneco Tour, though it was clear that the vim of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France had abandoned him.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2deoIat
No comments:
Post a Comment