Tom Dumoulin decides to target 2019 Giro d’Italia instead of Tour

Tom Dumoulin will once again head to the Giro d’Italia in 2019 with the intention of winning the first grand tour of the season. The Dutchman announced his intentions to target the Italian Grand Tour from Team Sunweb’s training camp. Some expected him to target the Tour de France but a more balanced route in Italy with more time trial kilometres suits the former world individual time trial champion better.

“After weeks of talking about it, we finally decided the main focus will be the Giro d’Italia in 2019. We had the Tour de France for a long time in our head but the Giro is such a nice course this year,” Dumoulin explained in a video from training camp. “I really love Italy, I love the course, and I love the race. Afterwards is very likely that I will do the Tour de France for GC, just like this year, but it’s still undecided.”

Dumoulin had his breakthrough as a Grand Tour contender at the 2017 Giro which he won ahead of Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali. In 2018, he did the Giro-Tour double finishing second in each. At the Giro, Chris Froome took the pink jersey in spectacular fashion after a raid on Colle delle Finestre.

The 2019 Giro has three individual time trials for a total of 58.5 km against the clock. The race bgins with a 8.2 km test in Bologna with a steep finish. On Stage 9 there is a 34.7 km test in San Marino before a 15.6 km time trial in Milon on the races concluding day.

The Tour de France is less friendly to time trialists with a mere 27 km agains the clock all on Stage 13 to Pau. The rest of the Tour route is more varied with five hilly stage, seven mountain stages and five mountain-top finishes.

While Dumoulin will center the first part of his season around winning the Giro, he could also race the Tour in July. In 2018, with an extra week between the two Grand Tours Dumoulin still managed second in France.