Tom Dumoulin has described his life as a blank canvas after retiring from professional racing and deciding to divorce, revealing the emotions and pain he has endured as he realised he no longer wanted to be a professional athlete.
Dumoulin won the 2017 Giro d’Italia and was one of the most talented Grand Tour riders of his generation. However, he has ended his career at just 31 and is now in search of a new life away from the sport.
“For the first time in my life I can decide things for myself,” Dumoulin told Dutch newspaper NRC (opens in new tab) in a long, often emotional and very personal interview.
“I’m starting with a completely blank canvas and I have no idea the direction that I’m going. And I’d like to leave it that way. Because it feels good.”
“I’m getting a divorce. We decided that last week. I don’t know if that’s necessarily something for the newspaper,” he revealed. “I always hoped that I wouldn’t become one of those cyclists who got divorced after his career ended. But unfortunately, that is the case.”
For now, Dumoulin is not interested in a coaching role or any involvement in professional cycling. His love of the sport is still alive and he may return in the future, but he now needs time for himself.
He travelled to the World Championships in Australia with his family and sisters because he had already bought tickets for them to be at his farewell race. He reveals it hurt to see the peloton ride past and realise he would never race with them again but it was also a moment of release.
“It was my life for eleven years, and it just passed me by. That kick from driving up the mountain at the front is not going to come anymore. But so far I don’t miss it at all,” he claimed, refuting the idea he could work for the Intermarche team in some role.
“I have sometimes felt lonely in the last few years but I wasn’t unhappy all year. And I’ve never been depressed. I still feel the love for the bike. Maybe one day I’ll be a coach but I’m going to stay away from a professional team for a while.”
After the World Championships, Dumoulin began a more personal voyage of discovery, travelling to Fiji and Costa Rica for six weeks.
“I slept in hostels because otherwise you really don’t meet anyone. Everyone is on their own journey. And if I didn’t feel like talking to people, I moved on. I have literally lived by the minute,” he said.
“I am grateful and happy with what cycling has taught me, but now I want to be closer to…
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