Tom Dumoulin comes into the race with the burden of being the defending champiojn(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
The Western Wall is an important site in the Jewish faith, much-visited for prayers(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Dumoulin gets the TT bike out(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Accelerating on the TT bike(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Accelerating on the TT bike(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Getting into that full aero position(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Plenty of fluids are needed to deal with the heat(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Dumoulin's custom world champion's TT rig(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Laurens Ten Dam(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Sam Oomen(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
On the TT bike(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Louis Vervaeke will be riding his first Grand Tour for Sunweb after moving from Lotto Soudal(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Tom Dumoulin talks to the press ahead of the race(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Tom Dumoulin was in demand with the media(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Tom Dumoulin was in demand with the media(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Rainbow flashes on the wheels of world champion Tom Dumoulin's TT bike(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
TT bikes on the roof for stage 1 practice(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Old Jerusalem(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
The team's bikes lined up(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Laurens Ten Dam will be one of Dumoulin's key domestiques(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
22-year-old Chris Hamilton is riding his second Grand Tour(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Last year Dumoulin lived up to this hashtag but now there are heightened expectations(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
The riders head out for a spin(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Ten Dam at the back of the group(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
The riders head out of the town centre for some kilometres on calmer roads(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Much is expected of Sam Oomen, the young Dutch talent(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
The riders bump into the Bardiani-CSF team(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
The riders move through the gears(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb)(Image credit: Emily Brammeier)
After flying out to Israel Tuesday, Tom Dumoulin and his Sunweb teammates have been busy spinning out the flight hours from their legs and putting the final touches to their preparations for the 2018 Giro d'Italia.
Dumoulin won the race last year and will wear the number 1 dossard when the race rolls out Friday with a 9.7km time trial through the streets of Jerusalem.
The Dutchman was joined by his teammates on Thursday in heading out for a final ride ahead of the big day. After a short time on the road bikes, world time trial champion Dumoulin cracked out his custom rainbow-painted time trial bike.
With the course itself closed until Friday morning, Dumoulin and co weren't able to undertake a proper recon of stage 1. However, they were able to reacquaint themselves with their bikes and aero positions on quieter, wider roads.
Dumoulin will be flanked at the Giro by teammates Sam Oomen, Laurens Ten Dam, Louis Vervaeke, Chris Hamilton, Lennard Hofstede, Chad Haga and Roy Curvers.
Flick through the gallery above to see photos from their final training outing.
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