Tom Dumoulin overjoyed for Koen Bouwman: ‘Nobody in the peloton deserves it more than him’ | giro

“I had no intention of going along in the break,” Dumoulin acknowledged afterwards Eurosport† ,,I wanted to give myself a few more days to get good legs, so I mainly wanted to protect Koen’s flight, but suddenly we had a gap and I was part of the escape,” said a laughing Dumoulin, who eventually ended up on Bouwman. saw win.

,,There is no rider who deserves it more than Koen Bouwman. I have played very few competitions with him, but I got to know him well during an internship in Colombia. On a personal and cycling level I now know him very well so I also know how fast he is at the finish. That was a big asset for us today,” said Dumoulin about his teammate.

That the smile was back with Dumoulin was telling. How different it was after the stage on Etna, where the Dutchman could say goodbye to his classification in one fell swoop. “Today it was much better”, said Dumoulin, who is now in 33rd place at 5 minutes and 40 seconds in the general classification. Does he secretly still have hope? “No, I am no longer concerned with the classification “I think I’m short of that, although today was a bit better. But even with today’s legs I won’t be in the first three in the standings.”

What are Dumoulin’s plans during this Giro? ,,I want to have two nice weeks. I think I’m short for the standings, but I hope to be able to pick a few nice days to go for a stage win. We’ll see: normally I don’t participate for the classification in any case.”