"I just rode Vincenzo Nibali right out of the wheel" - Tom Dumoulin recalls epic Giro d'Italia stage win atop Oropa in 2017

A winner of four Giro d'Italia stages during his career and the Maglia Rosa in 2017, the now-retired Tom Dumoulin has great love affair with the opening Grand Tour of the season.

Reflecting on his relationship with the premier Italian stage race, Dumoulin took a trip down memory lane via the In Het Wiel podcast. "I really liked my victory on Oropa. There I felt so much power I my legs," Dumoulin recalls of his stage 14 triumph that powered the Dutchman towards overall victory in 2017. "Nibali was in my wheel. Suddenly I couldn't see him anymore. I just rode him right out of the wheel. He gave an interview afterwards, like 'this is impossible, this big Dutch heavy guy'. He was really impressed. I fought the many battles with Nibali, but I thought that was a very nice compliment."

Dumoulin was also a runner-up at the Tour de France during his career and although the Tour is widely considered the most prestigious race in cycling, the Giro was always the more special in the mind of the Dutchman. "The French themselves do think it's cool that their country is on the map. But I see them enjoying it less, being less proud of cycling itself," he explains. "You do have that very much in Italy: love and passion for the race. That comes out very much in the Giro. Even as a foreign rider, that's fantastic. I was encouraged as hard as Nibali in 2017. You'll never see that in France."

Looking ahead to the upcoming edition however, one name stands out more than any other on the startlist, that of Tadej Pogacar. Widely expected to romp towards a dominant victory, Dumoulin saw first-hand early signs of the Slovenian's greatness back in 2020 on the infamous individual time-trial of the Tour de France that saw Pogacar snatch the Maillot Jaune from his compatriot and Dumoulin's teammate, Primoz Roglic on stage 20.

"I thought: nobody is going to be faster, there's no way. I rode my best values ever," Dumoulin recalls. "Pogacar was exactly as fast at that first measuring point. He didn't look like a cyclist at all. He still had a bit of baby fat and was not really sitting nicely on his bike. That he was as fast on the first section was a moment when I thought, 'wow'. It really shocked me."