World-class Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin has announced that he will retire after the current season.
“I have decided that 2022 will be my last year as a professional cyclist,” the 31-year-old shared on his Instagram account.
Dumoulin had his most successful year in 2017, when he won the Giro d’Italia and the gold medal in the individual and team time trials at the World Championships in Bergen, Norway. At last year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Dutchman took the silver medal in the individual race against the clock.
Already in 2020 he felt overtrained and burned out. “I was just a shadow of myself,” wrote Dumoulin. Nevertheless, he decided at the time to stay in the saddle. He described the silver medal in Tokyo as an absolute highlight that he was proud of. But this year has been frustrating. As soon as the intensity of training and racing increased, he suffered from “fatigue, pain and injuries”.
Now Dumoulin wants to get the most out of the last few months of his career. He is particularly looking forward to the World Championships from September 18th to 25th in Wollongong, Australia. “Cycling sometimes took my blood, sweat and tears, but mostly it was beautiful and I wouldn’t want to miss it for anything in the world,” wrote the Dutchman.