Dumoulin’s future
The 30-year-old will take unpaid leave for an indefinite period of time. He told the Jumbo–Visma’s management last week at the team’s training camp in Alicante, Spain.
“I have felt for quite some time, months, maybe even a year, actually, that it is very difficult for me to know how to find my way as Tom Dumoulin, the cyclist,” Dumoulin said in a video posted on his team’s YouTube page. “With the pressure that comes with it, the expectations of different parties. I really want to do very well for a lot of people but that has made me forget myself a little in the past year.
“What do I really want, what does man Tom Dumoulin want with his life at the moment? That is a question that has been bubbling up deep down for a few months and I, actually, don’t have the time to answer that question.
“But that question is there and I didn’t always get the time to answer that question. What do I want? Do I still want to be a cyclist? If so, how? If I want to win the Tour, how do I want to get there? And now, I have the feeling that I don’t know anymore and that I keep putting those questions to others to do it well for everyone. But that does not bring the result and that does not bring my happiness in the first place. So it just slowly made me unhappy. That’s just a shame. So that’s why I will take a break and who knows where it will lead.”
“I’m going to think a lot, take the dog for walks and look for: what do I want as a person with the bike? What do I want with my life? I made the decision yesterday. The team supports me in this and it feels good. It feels like a backpack has lost 100 kilos. I immediately woke up happily. It feels so good that I finally made the decision to take some time for myself,” he said.
We wish you only the very best, Tom. Take care of yourself.
