Dumoulin "has always been a very valued part of the team" Jumbo-Visma DS assures

Tom Dumoulin announced his retirement this past week and it has brought a wave of reactions. Having not had an official statement over the retirement, Jumbo-Visma's Merijn Zeeman talked about the situation recently in an interview with Wielerflits.

“I wish him all the best," Zeeman said, whilst explaining that he had several conversations with Dumoulin on the matter and that Jumbo always gave him the space to come back to his best - which included in recent times a long pause from pro cycling, and a pre-season camp at Colombia this winter where he tried to rekindle the flame for competition. Despite brief moments of great potential, in the time-trials specifically, the Dutchman couldn't keep up in the mountains which were his big goal.

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"We as a team are working together to create an environment in which we can be successful and get the most out of it," he said, which will include the final months of the 31-year old's career in which he'll target the ITT World championships. "He has always been a very valued part of the team. There are beautiful moments, but also disappointments... The last three years we have always been able to have very good and mature conversations with each other. I'm really proud of that," Zeeman added. 

“Tom had some really tough moments last year. I always think that we as Jumbo-Visma have always been there for him. And vice versa. We have always been able to work together in a very good, respectful way. As far as we are concerned, we will continue to do so from now on," he concluded.

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“It's not a very big surprise. Tom has never reached his level with us from before. That is not easy mentally and causes frustration," teammate Wout van Aert said. The last straw came at the Giro d'Italia where Dumoulin once again didn't manage to perform in the mountains, bringing down the remaining ambitions of returning to his Grand Tour-contending level.

“And every individual is different. In his stead I might be able to get some satisfaction and pleasure by filling in another important role in the team. This is clearly not the case with Tom. Then you should definitely show understanding for his choice. I think it's a brave decision," he concluded.