Tour de France route 'isn’t perfect for me', says Dutchman
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Tour de France 2017 route(Image credit: ASO)
Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2017 Tour de France route map (Image credit: ASO)
The route of the 2017 Tour de France (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The 2017 Tour de France "isn't perfect for me", according to Tom Dumoulin, the Giant-Alpecin team captain insisting he will continue to wait before deciding which Grand Tour he will seek to win next year.
The route for next year's race was announced on Tuesday in Paris, and provides only 36 kilometres of individual time trialling – Dumoulin's specialty – and only three mountaintop finishes. This year the Dutchman won the opening time trial at the Giro d'Italia, the national title, the first time trial at the Tour de France, and the silver medal at the Rio Olympics, as well as the queen stage of the Tour de France at the Andorra Arcalis summit finish.
Dumoulin, who broke through as a GC rider at last year's Vuelta Espana, said last month that in 2017 he will target one of the three Grand Tours with an eye on the overall victory. "I don't know which one, probably the one with the most time trial kilometres," he told Cyclingnews at the Tour of Britain.
The 25-year-old did not attend the Tour presentation on Tuesday, but he wrote on Facebook: "At first sight, a Tour de France that isn't perfect to me if I try to fight for the general classification because of the limited time trial kilometres. On the other hand, there are not many uphill finishes so it's not a Tour which is purely for the climbers either.
"It has a bit of everything so it'll probably turn out to be an unexpected and open race. That can make it very interesting."
The race opens with a 13km time trial in Düsseldorf, which "very attractive to me, but if I would focus on the general classification I expect my abilities in a short flat time trial will be somewhat affected by that."
Dumoulin concluded: "I am not convinced yet to fully focus on the Tour de France next year. First I'll wait for the Giro and the Vuelta courses before the team and I decide which three-week Tour we go for next year."
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Team CEO Iwan Spekenbrink told Cyclingnews that "it's a nice and balanced Tour parcours. A bit more time trial kms would make it even more interesting. The choice which Grand Tour Tom will ride next year will be made after all three Grand Tour parcours are announced and analysed."
