Dumoulin says Sunweb departure is 'currently out of the question'

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Tom Dumoulin has told De Telegraaf that a move away from Team Sunweb is "currently out of the question" amid reports in the Dutch press linking the 2017 Giro d’Italia winner with a transfer to Jumbo-Visma before his current contract expires.

"For years I have been part of a fantastic team where I can proudly work with extremely passionate colleagues," Dumoulin said in a statement to De Telegraaf. "A change is currently out of the question."

Dumoulin is under contract with Sunweb until the end of the 2021 season but AD has suggested that some "hairline cracks" have opened in his relationship with the team over the past two seasons. The Dutch newspaper reports that Dumoulin was unhappy with Sunweb’s transfer policy and their handling of the knee injury that has ruled him out of the forthcoming Tour de France.

With two and a half years remaining on the current deal, any attempt to prise Dumoulin away from Sunweb would be a very costly exercise unless a gentleman’s agreement can be struck between rider and team. Sunweb have previously allowed high-profile riders to leave the team before the end of their contracts; in 2016, Marcel Kittel left what was then Giant-Alpecin for QuickStep, while two years later, Warren Barguil extricated himself from his contract to switch to Arkea-Samsic (then Fortuneo-Samsic).

Dumoulin injured his knee in a crash on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia in Frascati and abandoned the race in the neutralised zone the following day. He returned to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné last month but left the race ahead of the final weekend in the mountains to undergo surgery to have a shard removed from his knee.

Four days later, Dumoulin was formally ruled out of the 2019 Tour and he will instead target the Vuelta a España and time trial world title later in the season.

While AD reports that "several sources" have intimated that Dumoulin is destined for Jumbo-Visma, De Telegraaf reports that Team Ineos, CCC, UAE Emirates and Total Direct Energie are also interested in securing Dumoulin’s services. Both Sunweb and Jumbo-Visma will hold their pre-Tour de France press conferences in the Netherlands on Wednesday.