Ex-Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin shocks Amsterdam Marathon with 2:29 debut run – “My heart said go, my legs screamed no”

Tom Dumoulin’s may have retired from professional cycling, but the Dutchman's days turning heads for sporting performance are seemingly not over. The 2017 Giro d’Italia champion, long renowned for his time trial prowess and meticulous pacing, produced an extraordinary debut marathon performance in Amsterdam on Sunday — stopping the clock at 2:29:21.

The 34-year-old, who ended his cycling career in 2022, lined up for the TCS Amsterdam Marathon determined to test his limits beyond the bike. Dumoulin had already impressed two years earlier with a 1:10:04 half marathon in the same city, but this was his first attempt at the full 42.195km distance — and he came away among the top fifty Dutch marathon times of the year, despite running as an amateur without a race licence.

“I wanted to run under two and a half hours, and that’s what I did — but it was painful,” Dumoulin said in quotes collected by HLN. “I went off way too fast. I was feeling great and thought: ‘Let’s see what happens.’ On the bike, I’d never do that — I know exactly what I can do and how to pace myself. With running I sort of know that too, but I just enjoy it.”

Dumoulin’s start was electric. After the opening 10 kilometres, he was on course for a 2:18 finish — an elite-level tempo. For a while, he even found himself running in the same group as Ethiopian Aynalem Desta, the eventual women’s winner in 2:17:38. But as the kilometres mounted, his body began to rebel against the pace.

“It’s such a difference between what my fitness can handle and what my muscles and tendons can,” Dumoulin explained. “I was in that group thinking, ‘I can take them on!’ But halfway through everything started cramping up and I thought, ‘This is going to be a long one.’ I honestly thought I might have to pull out. I stopped twice with cramp — I think around 25 and 35 kilometres.”

Despite those struggles, Dumoulin’s trademark determination came to the fore. Where lesser competitors might have folded, the Dutchman pushed on through pain and exhaustion, even finding the strength to accelerate again towards the finish — crossing the line just under his target of two hours and thirty minutes.

His split times told the story of a debutant still learning his new discipline: 1:09 for the first half, followed by 1:20 for the second. “My drop-off was huge,” he admitted. “You can really see that I haven’t yet processed the mileage.”

The marathon was far from a casual jog for the former world time trial champion. Dumoulin had trained seriously, extending his long runs up to 34km in the lead-up to Amsterdam. Yet, as he freely acknowledged, that balance between sufficient mileage and avoiding injury remains tricky for a newcomer to endurance running.

“It’s a fine line between not getting injured — which did happen — and running enough,” he reflected. “I did what I could.”

His post-race reflections showed the same humility and honesty that defined his cycling career. “Now that it’s over, the marathon feels fun — but ask me tomorrow and I’ll say no,” Dumoulin laughed. “Ask me next week, maybe I’ll say yes again. So don’t ask me yet if I’ll run another one.”