Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) soloed to victory on the queen stage of the Tour de France yesterday, taking the impressive win in tough wether conditions.
The Dutchman had been feeling unwell over the course of the opening week of the race but showed that he has now overcome the illness.
Dumoulin avoided battling with both Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Rafa Majka (Tinkoff) for KOM points during the stage and this possibly helped him to get clear when he attacked with 12 kilometres remaining to take his first stage win at the Tour.
He went on to finish 38″ clear of Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Majka.
Tom Dumoulin – “To win the queen stage of the Tour de France here in Andorra is just fantastic. If somebody had told me a few days ago that I would win today I would have said they were crazy. Throughout the stage, I was starting to feel better and I saw the opportunity to join the break as my legs were feeling really good.
“It didn’t matter to me that it was raining on the final ascent, I was just determined to do my best and I barely noticed the weather conditions. I was just in the suffering mode and completely focused on my effort. I am super happy with this performance.
“The first week of the Tour didn’t go too well at all and I was not feeling particularly content with my performances but my team kept my spirits up. So now I have won one of the toughest stages of the Tour and I am very proud of myself and the whole team.”
