Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) has confessed to struggling with back injury at this year’s Giro d’Italia, after falling more than 19 minutes down in the general classification.
In a brief interview with Eurosport after Wednesday’s sprint stage 11 finishing in Reggio Emilia, Dumoulin responded to a question on his current form by saying, “To be honest, I have some issue with my back, so it is not great.”
Speaking about the team’s ride on stage 11, Dumoulin said, “It was quiet for us. A day to get through. We don’t have a sprinter with us, and we don’t really have someone fighting for GC anymore. So not really a day to be doing something for us.”
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Dumoulin took a break from professional cycling in 2021, leaving the Jumbo-Visma training camp in January - citing the pressures of life in the pro peloton.
His return to the WorldTour in the autumn, after a 5-month hiatus, was much celebrated. Dumoulin showed impressive form in the opening time trial of the Giro d’Italia in Budapest, leading many fans to hope that Dumoulin may recapture the form that carried him to overall victory at the 2017 race.
However, only a few days later Dumoulin was dropped by a group of favourites on the ascent of Etna on stage 4 of the race, struggling to keep pace on a 14% incline.
“I’m just not feeling good. It’s like that. I worked hard to get here in the best shape possible,” Dumoulin told reporters after the stage 4 finish, but at that point did not mention back pain.
“Everything was OK. But I just don’t have the legs at the moment” he said after stage 4. “I don’t know why, but it is like it is.”
Dumoulin showed elation on stage 7, though, as he gave teammate Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) a major assist in taking the stage win.
Jumbo-Visma have no clear GC contender, with Tobias Foss 29:50 down in the overall race lead, and no leading sprinter on their Giro roster, and so will now likely be contending for individual stage wins in the mountains or from breakaways.
Dumoulin has had a temperamental return to racing, having broken his wrist after falling during a training ride in October. However, he has previously claimed that he’s happy to be returning to Grand Tour racing, and has not ruled out racing at the Tour de France in July.
