Tour de France - Tom Dumoulin: The attack was improvised, we went on intuition
Jul 19 2018 01:34 am CET

Photo of Tom Dumoulin (c) Team Sunweb
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) has climbed from the 11th to the second position in the General Classification of the Tour de France after a surprise attack at the last descent of the day.
Dumoulin and Søren Kragh Andersen attacked at the descent from the Cormet de Roselend and soon built a gap that would take the Dutchman to the second GC position. "The attack was improvised, we went on intuition," said the rider at the end of the day. "Søren was in the break and he is a madman in the downhills.
"I told him to go at the front and go fast, but not take any risks and suddenly we had a gap. He did such an amazing job, the whole team were brilliant today. I had a lot of guys with me for the whole day which was great."
The performance of the day also has a special meaning for Dumoulin. "I actually learned to ski in this village when I was a little kid," he explained. "My uncle rented a house here and the whole family came. This spring he passed away, just two weeks after my aunty also passed away. So my dad lost his brother and sister within two weeks of each other.
"Today I really wanted to perform well for them and I hope that I did them proud. I’ll keep doing my best every day. Today I had a good day, maybe tomorrow I pay for it but I’m happy with today."