Tom Dumoulin is back riding two months after being hit by a car and fracturing his right wrist.
The 2017 Giro d’Italia winner and former world time trial champion was hit by a car near his home in the Netherlands in early September and underwent surgery to treat the wrist fracture. He was forced to miss the World Championships time trial in Belgium and end his 2021 season.
Dumoulin has kept out of the spotlight since his injuries but he was seen riding with the Tour de Tietema Cycling Team and then visited a local bike shop. The Dutchman is preparing for the 2022 season with Jumbo-Visma and seemed happy to pedal with local riders.
Dumoulin raced for just 19 days in 2021 after deciding to take time out of the sport for an indefinite period while at Jumbo-Visma team training camp back in late January. He said at the time he felt as though "a backpack of a hundred kilos has slipped off my shoulders". He spent time thinking about what he wants for his future, with even retirement an option.
However, he visited the Amstel Gold Race in the spring and decided to return to racing at the Tour de Suisse in early June to prepare for the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics. He won a silver medal behind Jumbo-Visma teammate Primoz Roglic in Tokyo and then rode the Benelux Tour, only for the wrist fracture to end his season.
Dumoulin is set to stay with Jumbo-Visma for 2022 but has been linked to BikeExchange for 2023 due to his excellent relations with the Australia team’s new bike sponsor Giant. However, it appears unlikely that he will accept the pressured environment of challenging for Grand Tours.
“Tom Dumoulin is a rider that's on the market at the end of next year and he is a rider that most teams would like to have on board if he performs like he did at the Olympics, for example,” Team BikeExchange general manager Brent Copeland told Cyclingnews recently.
Jumbo-Visma have signed former world time trial champion Rohan Dennis for 2022 and 2023, while giving Dumoulin the freedom to decide his own goals and race programme.
