Tom Dumoulin is hoping Team Sunweb can finally take their first win of the 2019 season at Tirreno-Adriatico during the opening 21.5km team time trial on Wednesday or at least limit their losses and so give the Dutchman a shot at overall victory.
Team Sunweb finished seven seconds behind Jumbo-Visma in the 16km team time trial at the recent UAE Tour, but Dumoulin was unable to stay with Primoz Roglic on the first mountain finishes of the Arabian race, losing 44 seconds. He lead the charge to line on the second mountain finish only for Roglic to sprint past him in sight of the line.
That was 10 days ago and Dumoulin appeared far more bullish as he sat at the top table of big-name Tirreno-Adriatico overall contenders on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m here and I’m ready,” Dumoulin said, mixing smiles with a moment of seriousness about his intentions.
“It’s always nice to get a win. The first win opens things up, and it would definitely be nice to get a victory somewhere in the next two weeks.”
Last year, Team Sunweb lost 25 seconds to stage winner’s BMC Racing and lesser chunks of time to their other overall rivals. Dumoulin started the race with a cold and then abandoned after a crash during stage 4. He appeared to be far healthier and far more confident this year.
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