Jumbo DS on Dumoulin: "That hard work should not just go to waste"

Tom Dumoulin has not had an easy time since returning to cycling last year. Despite having brilliant performances at time-trials, he has been unable to replicate the climbing performances that in the past gave him career-defining results, and here at the Giro d'Italia his GC ambitions went down the drain on the first mountainous test.

“What's next for Tom? Keep calm at first. The Giro is still long. There is still a lot to look forward to for the team here," Team DS Marc Reef said in an interview with Wielerflits. Tom Dumoulin finished third in the Budapest time-trial indicating good form, however at Mount Etna he dropped from the peloton early on in the climb and ended up loosing almost seven minutes to his rivals - effectively putting him out of reach to fight for a second pink jersey.

Reef added: "...He has nothing to blame himself. He has worked hard for this. His preparation was not optimal, but the last three weeks at altitude were good. He now has to maintain confidence, albeit in the knowledge that a classification is no longer feasible. But that hard work should not just go to waste. There will be other opportunities in this Giro and we will fight for that."

What the Dutchman's ambitions will be now throughout the race is an unknown, what is certain is that he will be hoping for better legs in the mountains, which are to come heavily in the final two weeks of the race: "Again, both Tom and the team management think it's too early to talk about that now. You cannot decide something like that within 24 hours."

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The team's ambitions remain the same despite the disastrous outcome at Mount Etna, where both Foss and Oomen lost over two minutes besides Dumoulin's loss of GC ambitions. "Our plans for this Giro do not change that much. With Tobias Foss and Sam Oomen we are still aiming for a good classification here. That is important now," he said.