‘It’s not great’ – Tom Dumoulin admits he is struggling with back injury at Giro d’Italia
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Published 18/05/2022 at 17:38 GMT
Tom Dumoulin is making his return to Grand Tour racing at the Giro d’Italia but admits he is being hampered by a back injury. As an ambulance trundled behind in the background, Dumoulin told Eurosport he had “some issues” with his back. The Dutchman won the 2017 edition of the Giro and finished runner-up the following year, but has not made an impression in the GC battle this time around.
‘I have some issues with my back’ – Dumoulin opens up about injury
Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) has revealed he is struggling with a back injury after enduring a mixed Giro d’Italia.
The Dutchman appeared reluctant to speak about his condition during a Eurosport interview after Stage 11, pausing and looking around before saying: “To be honest, I have some issues with my back so it’s not great.”
He shipped time on Mount Etna on Stage 4 as his GC hopes vanished almost immediately, before he bounced back to propel team-mate Koen Bouwman to victory on Stage 7 from the breakaway.
Without joint-leaders Dumoulin and Tobias Foss in contention in the GC battle, and no obvious sprinter, Jumbo-Visma are only fighting for breakaway wins for the remainder of the Giro.
Dumoulin is 19’08” adrift of Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) in the race for the maglia rosa. Sam Oomen, who was the target of an angry bottle throw from Lopez on Stage 9, is Jumbo’s best ranked rider in 18th at 7’21”.
Dumoulin is one of three former champions in the field along with Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan) – but only Carapaz has realistic hopes of winning again in 2022.
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Stream the Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
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