Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin has given an outspoken interview with De Limburger newspaper where he has criticised the decision of the UCI to award the forthcoming World Championships to Qatar.

He has also given his opinion of the Bradley Wiggins situation whereby it was revealed earlier this week that the British rider had been given TUEs (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) for the banned drug triamcinolone.

Wiggins had received the TUEs prior to the Tour de France in 2011 and 2012 and also the 2013 Giro d’Italia.

Regarding the World Championships, Dumoulin is critical over the fact that labour conditions are so poor in Qatar and also questions what the atmosphere will be like at the Championships.

“Many Indians go to Qatar to work who are in a bad state. I’m not going to mention slavery, but that country is far removed from our values. Whether it’s worse or not? You find your own culture is better.”

“Also, there will be very few spectators and it will be totally bleak. All in all, it would have been better to keep the World Championships in a different, more cycling-loving country.”

“I can also see the benefits though. There is a lot of money up for grabs for the UCI,” he goes on to say. “Qatar will pay the UCI millions to be able to organize the Worlds.”

“What does the UCI do with the money? That’s not going to the sport, because we have to for example pay almost everything ourselves to ride the team time-trial. It’s crooked. And that is the UCI, not Qatar. I think the UCI are perhaps bigger crooks than the whole of Qatar together.”

Dumoulin also goes on to speak about the recent leak of TUEs after the WADA database was hacked by the Russian Fancy Bears group.

“It’s very strange that Wiggins always took medication in the same period. And injecting? Then you must have really bad asthma, something they do not usually do for normal asthmatics, let alone athletes who have exercise-induced asthma.”

“Apparently Wiggins’ injection also worked for weeks. Then in my opinion, you should be out of competition for weeks. That thing stinks.”

14 COMMENTS

  1. Very arguable the “our culture is better” sentence, but about everything else he’s got a point. Most about the Wiggins/Froome situation.

    Conclusion: Not just the Wiggins case stinks. The UCI stinks.

  2. His ‘culture’ comment was meant at a third party self reflection, as in, it is not an absolute truth, just a cultural comparison. As for his win record and whether he is professionally qualified to speak with such authority… I think he is very quaified. 2010
    1st Stage 8 (ITT) Girobio
    1st Overall GP du Portugal
    1st Stage 3
    7th UCI World Under-23 Time Trial Championships
    2011
    1st
    Jersey yellow.svg
    Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux
    3rd Overall Olympia’s Tour
    3rd Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23
    8th UCI World Under-23 Time Trial Championships
    8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège Espoirs
    2012
    5th Rund um Köln
    5th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
    6th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    7th National Time Trial Championships
    7th National Road Race Championships
    10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
    2013
    1st
    Jersey green.svg
    Mountains classification Vuelta a Andalucía
    2nd National Road Race Championships
    2nd Overall Eneco Tour
    3rd National Time Trial Championships
    5th Overall Tour of Belgium
    1st
    Jersey white.svg
    Young rider classification
    6th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    6th Grand Prix de Wallonie
    2014
    1st
    MaillotHolanda.PNG
    National Time Trial Championships
    1st RaboRonde Heerlen
    1st Stage 2 (ITT) Critérium International
    2nd Overall Tour of Belgium
    1st
    Jersey white.svg
    Young rider classification
    2nd Overall Tour of Alberta
    1st
    Jersey white.svg
    Young rider classification
    1st Prologue
    2nd Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
    3rd Overall Eneco Tour
    1st
    Jersey red.svg
    Points classification
    1st Stage 3 (ITT)
    3rd
    Bronze medal blank.svg
    UCI World Time Trial Championships
    5th Overall Tour de Suisse
    6th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
    2015
    1st Stage 6 (ITT) Tour of the Basque Country
    3rd Overall Tour de Suisse
    1st Stages 1 (ITT) & 8 (ITT)
    4th Overall Tour Down Under
    4th National Time Trial Championships
    5th UCI World Time Trial Championships
    6th Overall Vuelta a España
    1st Stages 9 & 17 (ITT)
    Held
    Jersey red.svg
    after Stages 5, 9–10 & 17–19
    Held
    Jersey white.svg
    after Stages 9–14
    Jersey red number.svg
    Combativity award Stage 17, 21 & Overall
    Tour de France
    Held
    Jersey white.svg
    after Stage 2
    2016
    1st
    MaillotHolanda.PNG
    National Time Trial Championships
    Tour de France
    1st Stages 9 & 13 (ITT)
    Jersey red number.svg
    Combativity award Stage 9
    Giro d’Italia
    1st Stage 1 (ITT)
    Held
    Jersey pink.svg
    after Stages 1–2, 4–7
    Held
    Jersey red.svg
    after Stage 1
    2nd
    Silver medal olympic.svg
    Time trial, Olympic Games
    3rd Overall Tour of Britain
    4th Overall Tour of Oman
    5th Overall Tour de Romandie

  3. Think he is spot on. As a pro-cyclist who has won, he is entitled to his opinion. He doesn’t sound angry to me. Sounds very thoughtful. I happen to agree with his stance on the worlds. If a man rapes a women in Qatar she is punished for infidelity. (As published recently). I think the UCI has a moral duty to demonstrate its objection to inequality. Looks like the UCI has gone for the money.

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