Tom Dumoulin: It's another Tour de France from Tuesday

Mechanical mishap on the approach to Mûr-de-Bretagne aside, the early portents from Tom Dumoulin’s Tour de France are promising, but the Dutchman is keenly aware that the race’s first act will have little bearing on how the plot unfolds over the coming stages in the Alps.

After nine days of racing, Dumoulin lies 15th overall, 2:03 down on overall leader Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), and 21 seconds behind defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky).

The Team Sunweb man appeared to be among the strongest – or at least the most willing – of the GC contenders on the cobbles to Roubaix on Sunday, and he reports no lingering effects of his efforts on May’s Giro d’Italia, but he warned that the Alps would offer a very different kind of challenge.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Physically there were not the most demanding days but the stress in the bunch was pretty high. It was kind of a weird first nine days to have no mountains at all. It’s definitely another Tour de France from tomorrow,” Dumoulin said on Monday’s rest day.

“So far I feel really fresh. I’ve raced nine days, and I also feel that, but physically they weren’t the hardest days. But it’s just near impossible to say how you’re going to be in the coming three days. I just have to race my best and see where I end up.”

When the Tour route was unveiled last October, it was anticipated that the stage 3 team time trial and the cobbled stage to Roubaix would provoke some early and possibly even decisive gaps among the podium contenders. The unfortunate Richie Porte’s abandon notwithstanding, the pre-race favourites have largely broken even through the opening week. Few were spared bad luck, but – Porte aside – nobody’s challenge has been completely undone.

The Alps

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com