INTERVIEW: TOM DUMOULIN
We quiz the 2017 Giro d’Italia champion about defending his crown, his big rival Chris Froome, and the challenges he faces
Tom Dumoulin, the rider who will soon defend his pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia, might not have achieved significant results so far in 2018, but he has lost none of his mental resilience after bad luck ruled much of his spring null and void. Procycling caught up with Sunweb’s team leader ahead of his title defence in Italy
How are you after the last few weeks? I’m doing better now; I had my down days at home. After I abandoned TirrenoAdriatico I didn’t touch my bike for three days. All my bad luck left me emotionally and physically shattered. I didn’t have the right mindset on the saddle, and couldn’t process all the bad luck I’d had. After the second crash, in Tirreno, I thought: this doesn’t make sense any more, if I continue it’s just going to get worse. I went home, where for three days I had some difficult, but also some good times. And then Laurens ten Dam called me: ‘I’m in the south, let’s train together.’ At first, I told him that I hadn’t even touched my bike, so that it would be better if I started over by myself. But in the end I went with him and Bram Tankink to the Ardennes for five and a half hours. I returned home completely happy.
There was a lot of bad luck. The wounds from the crash in the Abu Dhabi Tour had only just healed when they opened up again thanks to my crash in Tirreno. They weren’t the easiest weeks to start the season with. I wanted to perform, I’d had a very good winter, and I wanted to show that. But sometimes you just can’t, and you end up putting more pressure on yourself. Sh*t, bad luck. Next race. Bad again. I was sick before Tirreno and again I knew it was a lost cause. Mentally that’s very challenging. The fact that I’d imposed such high expectations on myself also didn’t make my life any easier. Would you call it a disaster? At first I did think so, yes. But after Tirreno I asked myself that question, especially given the fact that I hadn’t broken anything and that I hadn’t really lost a race. I just hadn’t achieved the results I would have liked. Is that a disaster? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t describe it as such. Has it worried you about what’s to come? You weren’t able to shine in the time trials at Abu Dhabi, you couldn’t participate in those at Tirreno and you won’t have any more chances before the Giro. I’m only doing Liège-BastogneLiège. I don’t have any results - that’s all correct. It didn’t work out. But I’m not afraid. I’ve tested myself enough over the last 10 years. I know what I have to do, I don’t need any confirmation. I know what I’ll need to do in case of an uphill finish, or in any other conditions. You will probably compete against riders such as Chris Froome. Isn’t it frustrating that you won’t really have any opportunity to measure yourself against them? No, not really. I know what I am capable of when I am fit and in the right state of mind. I don’t need any confirmation in the spring. The Giro d’Italia takes place in a completely different period. I’m not worried about that in the slightest. Your pre-programme is an exact copy of 2017. Why? I enjoyed the races I did in the run-up to the Giro. It’s not about copying what I did then, I just think there aren’t many other alternatives. If you are doing it solely because it brought you good results before, it won’t work. I am cycling the same ones as last year, but I don’t worry about feeling the same as I did then, or spending my days exactly as I did last year. I just try to do the best I can. I don’t see another schedule. I don’t like the Tour de Romandie as final preparation – it’s too close to the Giro, and it’s mentally and physically challenging. The team doesn’t ride the Tour of the Alps - that would have been a great way to prepare. The Tour de Yorkshire is one week after, so that’s impossible. There’s nothing else, there are no other options to prepare for the Giro.
The altitude training in Sierra Nevada forms an important part of that build-up. Last year I wanted to go to Tenerife [El Teide], however
My mindset will be the same but the conditions will be completely different. I won the race. But it is up to me to enter with the same mindset. It might even be key
the hotel turned out to be booked for a part of the envisaged period.
So I did the altitude training in two parts: one and a half weeks in Tenerife, and one and a half in Sierra. That was absolutely horrible, all that hassle… now I’m doing the entire training in Sierra, as Tenerife was fully booked again. At the end of March 2017, you told Procycling: ‘I’m not thinking about the Giro d’Italia yet’. Has that changed for this year? Not really. I don’t think about it every day. If you were to ask me which stages will be important in the first week, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Yes, I know there’s a time trial in Jerusalem, and upon returning to Italy we finish on Etna. But that’s it. I saw a race profile, but for now it’s too far away. The time trial will be very special, I’m very much looking forward to that. Last year I entered the Giro thinking: I’ll take it day by day. I’m going to ride as best I can, and hopefully I will do well. I have to savour it as much as I can, without thinking about what’s yet to come, or how I will feel in those conditions. Or just think of that cliché: to take it day by day. That’s my goal again. Would it improve my performance if I’m already thinking about the race? My mindset might be the same, but the conditions will be completely different. I won the race. But it is up to me to enter the race with that same mindset. It might even be key. Can your mindset be the same? Knowing that you are the current time trial world champion? It’s more difficult, there’s more pressure. It is something I have noticed these last few months and I’ve struggled with that. That was also the case last year, following the Giro d’Italia. I’m eager to do things differently than I have recently. Maybe that will work, maybe it won’t. But it will be more difficult. Last year there was less pressure. What’s more difficult: winning the first or second time? I don’t know. Both have their own challenges. Mentally it is more difficult now the second time, but in the right state of mind I’m curious to see how it will go. Many think that you are Froome’s biggest competition at the Giro and Tour. What do you think? I’m not sure we will challenge Froome, as it’s unclear if he will be here due to his current issue. The perfect blue-sky scenario would be that we both ride the Tour after. But whether that will happen?
That won’t be decided until after the Giro d’Italia. I don’t think about whether I will challenge Froome, or ride the Tour de France annually. Will I be a Tour de France multiple winner? Of course, I hope to win the general classification, maybe already this year, or otherwise in the years to come. That is definitely something I think. But I don’t think, ‘Wow, how cool would it be to win the Tour de France as many times as Froome’. Is a Giro d’Italia this year with Froome more challenging? He has proven that he is the best Tour rider of the last few years so beating him would definitely be challenging. I don’t know if beating Froome for the pink jersey would make it more valuable to me. Not necessarily. But it will be more difficult to win. You have spoken about the Froome issue, but you don’t any more. Do you think it’s better not to? I try not to. I tried to distance myself from that. I have never given my opinion about his case. I only said something about him as a rider participating at Tirreno. I didn’t even condemn the fact that he was there, but still my words were taken out of context. The only thing I said is that as a member of the MPCC – which Sunweb is a member of – I wouldn’t have been there. Other than that, I keep my distance from the issue. And I will continue to do so.
I think it’s a good thing that we are a member of the MPCC. And that if I would have to follow the rules, I would not be upset about it, even if I knew that I had done nothing wrong. Because positive is positive, whether you like it or not. You might have a good explanation for it later. But if you are positive, it’s better not to race. I appreciate the clear rules and I gladly adhere to them. You continuously have to improve to compete. On what fronts? The main thing is to continue to enjoy it. I haven’t lost any weight to ride uphill faster. I’m still training in the same way. I can only hope that I’ve regained my physical strength, and that I have gained in maturity. Over these last few months we didn’t
find any part of my training to be decisive for better results. Has your stomach issue resolved? We did some tests this winter, but we didn’t find a real solution. You see, every day you consume 6,000 to 7,000 calories, and your body simply isn’t built for that, and combine that with the physical stress. If you do not stick to your diet, that can create issues. And it did for me; I remind you of the Tour where I had to hurry into a camper [to use the toilet]. My body has difficulties processing the food in combination with the physical efforts. But up until now I have not experienced any issues. Then there was the mechanical issue this year... These last few months there were more issues which were out of my control and needed to be solved. That creates uncertainty, because you want to have everything under control. What was I to do? I let the team know what happened, and then the team had to solve it. I can’t worry about that any more. I can’t hire my own mechanic. Yes you can… No, no. Do you still trust your equipment? Yes, of course. Everyone can make mistakes. It just happened too often this year. The team has to look into it. Accidents can happen. But if it is a structural issue, then it is up to the team to solve it. Wouldn’t you feel more confident having your own staff? That has its own disadvantages. Our team doesn’t work like that. I know that many other leaders do have that. Cancellara always had his own mechanic and soigneur. Many leaders do. But it creates an imbalance: the leader and the A-team have the best. It causes jealousy. And that’s the strength of our team: we have fun together, do everything for each another and we enjoy spending time together. There are many teams where they can’t even sit down for a meal together. It’s ridiculous. It’s a positive thing that we’re one team. In the Giro you will face the Zoncolan and Finestre. Are you as afraid, considering you had to get off the bike to defecate last year? That toilet incident will be a funny story to tell my grandchildren! I’m happy I didn’t lose the Giro because of it. I learnt from it. I learnt to fight until the end. Those kinds of things I take with me to the next races. I’m not afraid of anything. I was feeling sick in Tirreno, I wasn’t feeling well, which made me afraid of the mountains because they could hurt me, or because I might get dropped. But I’m not afraid of that in the Giro, no matter which climb we’ll have to face. Each rider will face the same tough mountains. How will you beat Froome? Or are you more focused now on how to win the Tour? I hope to win time in the time trials [stage 1 and 16]. Then he will have to launch an attack on me during the climbs, and then we’ll just have to wait and see. I am definitely a better time triallist than he is, and then he will have to try and follow uphill. There was talk last year about the strength of your team. Yes, and I agreed with those concerns. We don’t have Team Sky’s budget, or the money that BMC has. We have a team that, on paper, isn’t very strong physically. But we can compete with the other teams by outsmarting them and helping each other more than the other teams do. This year, I won’t say a word about it, but if you look at the line up, we have a very strong team. But regarding those concerns: last year Quintana was also alone during those last mountain stages. Andrey Amador was still with him at most. Everyone said my team were nowhere to be found. But where were the teammates of Quintana on the day that kicked off at Monte Grappa? He was the only one left. It’s incredibly difficult to control what happens during stages like that. Only Sky has proven to be able to do it. But we don’t always compare ourselves to Sky.
I hope to win time in the time trials. Then Froome will have to lauch an attack on me during the climbs. I am de initely a better time triallist than he is, then he will have to try and follow uphill