Time triallists are, by their nature, methodical beings, and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) saw no reason to break from his pre-established career plan even when his progression from rouleur to Grand Tour contender was suddenly fast-forwarded at last year’s Vuelta a España.
After leading the race into the final weekend before eventually placing sixth overall in Madrid, conventional thinking would now see Dumoulin designated to spend the coming seasons looking to replicate the feat by targeting high overall finishes in the Grand Tours.
With the Rio 2016 Olympics time trial at the back of his mind since the hilly parcours was first announced – and, seemingly, with an affinity for the De Coubertin ideal dating back to childhood – Dumoulin has opted to take the path less followed and rein in his aspirations over three weeks for at least one more year.
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“I will be definitely Tom the Chrono Man in 2016 and not Tom the GC Man,” Dumoulin told reporters light-heartedly on the eve of the Tour of Oman, his first race of the new season.
“We will postpone that for one more year. It came so suddenly the Vuelta. It was a nice experience, it was very special. But I’m afraid to go with the flow and be the big GC man who always goes for GC. That was never the plan. When I started with this team we had a plan to make little steps and to be at the top level after six or seven years, and then compete at that top level.
“Why should we give it all away and go full on for GC now? I started thinking that it is not what I really want, so what I really want is to get this opportunity in an Olympics. Riding for GC is for later, for 2017.”
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