In the summer of 2015, after recovering from the dislocated shoulder he sustained when on the brink of becoming the first Dutchman to lead the Tour de France in 26 years, Tom Dumoulin travelled to Livigno to start out all over again.
For two weeks, Dumoulin slept at altitude and trained in solitude among the big beasts of the Italian Alps. For two weeks, the Gavia, Mortirolo and Stelvio were tackled in repetition. Dumoulin came down from the mountain a changed man. The following month, he surprised everybody – including himself – to lead the Vuelta a España until the penultimate weekend. A Grand Tour rider was born.
On Tuesday, Dumoulin returns to the mighty passes in very different circumstances. The upper slopes of the Stelvio will be banked by snow, and thousands of clamouring tifosi will make the road that bit less lonely. The maglia rosa will be on his shoulders, and he will be carrying a lead of 2:41 into the final week of the Giro d'Italia.
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"I was up there alone for two weeks before the Vuelta in 2015 and I actually had a really good time," Dumoulin told a press conference in Boario Terme as the shadows lengthened on Monday afternoon. "I enjoyed myself. I did the big mountain passes, Gavia, Stelvio and Mortirolo, and it was quite special. I don't know the other stages this week, but I know tomorrow's stage."
As Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue put it earlier in the afternoon, the final third of the Giro features more than two-thirds of its real climbs. For all that, Dumoulin has an insurance policy in the form of the final time trial in Milan on Sunday, the next five days will offer the most stringent test of his aptitude for three-week racing. Indeed, Tuesday's tappone, 222 kilometres from Rovetta to Bormio by way of the Mortirolo, Stelvio and Umbrailpass, could alter the complexion of his Giro completely.
"It can be very hard or it can be very, very hard," Dumoulin smiled when asked what he expected from stage 16. "We just have to see. I've had some tough stages in the past, so we'll see how it's going to be. My competitors will definitely attack me and it will definitely be a day of suffering."
Monstrous
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