Tom Dumoulin says he is feeling “fresh” after finishing second to Chris Froome in the Giro d’Italia last month and will be ready for the fight for the win at the Tour de France.
“After the Giro d’Italia, I consciously took more rest than I would normally do,” Dumoulin told De Telegraaf. “For the first nine days, I hardly even touched the bike. I have never been so fresh two weeks after a Grand Tour.”
“I had in mind since the winter that I really wanted to ride the double,” Dumoulin said. “But you never know what will happen in the Giro. For that reason, I always thought that I would really make the decision after that race.”
“The Giro actually went very well from start to finish and I did not see anything crazy in those weeks,” Dumoulin said. “The choice to ride the Tour was actually quite simple for me.”
“If things go badly in the Tour, it’s nice that I know that I have shown myself well in the Giro. I am very happy and proud of my performance in that race,” Dumoulin said. “That feeling, nobody can take from me. Whatever happens in the Tour, I will stay happy with that.”
“I’ll be full-on for the overall at the Tour,” Dumoulin said. “I know it’s going to be a physical and mental fight. It will once again become a tough fight. I’m not going to be riding there [satisfied] with the idea that I have already done a good Tour. I am going to do everything to finish high up at the Tour too.”
