Tom Dumoulin ends professional career with immediate effect

Tom Dumoulin ends professional career with immediate effect

Tom Dumoulin has ended his professional cycling career with immediate effect.

The 31-year-old was planning on retiring at the end of 2022, with the Wollongong Worlds time trial likely to be his final farewell, but the Dutchman has taken the decision to end his career around six weeks earlier than planned.

In a statement released by Jumbo-Visma, Dumoulin said he could no longer train in the same way, saying “the tank is empty”.

“I decided to quit professional cycling with immediate effect,” Dumoulin announced. “About two months ago I announced that I would retire as a professional cyclist at the end of the year. During last spring, despite my love for the bike, I noticed that things weren’t going how I wanted. I felt that I was ready for a new phase in my life. But, I still had one project on my wishlist to end my career with a bang; the World Championship in Australia.

“I wanted to tackle that road to the World Championship the way I tackled the road to the Tokyo Olympics. With a sense of freedom, on my terms, with the support of the team and with my intrinsic motivation as the main fuel. That’s what brought me back the joy of cycling back then. But I notice that I can’t do it anymore. The tank is empty, the legs feel heavy and the training sessions are not working out as I hoped and I also need to do a good performance and have a good feeling at the World Championship. Since my hard crash in training last September, something has broken again. I had to interrupt my efforts to return to my old shape yet again and deal with another disappointment. It was one too many.

“Even though the farewell didn’t turn out the way I hoped, I look back on my career with incredible pride. I worked hard for it, took a lot of passion and pleasure from it for many years, and delivered brilliant performances. I will never forget that. Now it’s time to enjoy other things and be there for the people I love. A big thank you to my team and everyone who supported me during my fantastic career. And a special thank you to my wife, who had my back all these years.”

Dumoulin calls time on a distinguished career where he won the Giro d’Italia and the world time trial title in 2017. He won three Tour de France stages, two Vuelta a España stages and two Giro stages. He recorded 22 professional victories, rode 14 Grand Tours and also collected two Olympic silver medals in the time trial.

“We are sorry that Tom is ending his career with immediate effect, but we respect his decision,” said Richard Plugge, general manager of Jumbo-Visma. “Tom has meant a lot to cycling fans, both in the Netherlands and worldwide. He can be proud of his career. We wish him all the best for the future.”