No Tour de France crowds, no worries for Dumoulin

Tom Dumoulin's gaze remains lasered on Tour de France rivals and is unfazed by the absence of crowds as Jumbo-Visma announced it is sticking with its three-pronged approach of the Dutchman, Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk.

Tom Dumoulin said the absence of crowds at the 2020 Tour de France will not deter him from his main goal of beating rivals

Tom Dumoulin said the absence of crowds at the 2020 Tour de France will not deter him from his main goal of beating rivals Source: Getty

While the 2017 Giro d'Italia champion acknowledged it will be 'strange' without the thronging Tour de France hive, his main goal is defeating his rivals. 

"I'm of course not used to doing a Tour de France without public," he said. "So I wouldn't know how that would be.
"But once you're out on the road, it's just a battle between you and your competitors."
"Racing-wise it will not really change and I will be just as motivated as ever to try and beat my competitors to try and win it."

Dumoulin's new team Jumbo-Visma is sticking with its triumvirate of he, Roglic and Kruijswijk despite the release of a revised WorldTour schedule which sees three grand tours in three months and the final five days of the Giro overlapping with the start of the Vuelta.

Jumbo-Visma's refreshing approach of announcing its Tour de France squad before Christmas was scuppered by the coronavirus pause to the 2020 season.
"The goal of the Tour de France remains as it is," multiple sources quote Jumbo-Visma director Merijn Zeeman. 

"Normally, I don't see our Tour de France roster being any different. (But) we do need to see how the riders come through this period and see if they're really ready to reach their highest level at the Tour.

"We don't have the races to prepare as normal, when you could see how the riders are racing, but I'm confident that they'll be riding well," he added.
"Nothing is finalised yet but the big goal of the year was to go to the Tour and try to win it, and that remains the same."
"I hope that the plans they have are going to happen. Considering all the circumstances, I'll be very grateful if we can just race and do all these beautiful races. For me, that's the most important thing."

Before the coronavirus shutdown the season, Dumoulin, Roglic and Kruijswijk had not yet officially turned a pedal over in competition in 2020.



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2 min read
Published 8 May 2020 9:26am
Updated 8 May 2020 9:39am
By Cycling Central
Source: Omnisport, Cycling Central


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