No Tour de France for Tom Dumoulin as hiatus continues
Jonas Vingegaard tapped to fill Jumbo-Visma vacancy in Tour de France debut.
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It’s official: Tom Dumoulin will not race the Tour de France this summer.
Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard will make his Tour de France debut in June after being called up by Jumbo-Visma on Monday to replace Dumoulin, who suddenly stepped away from the peloton in January.
The Dutch team said Monday the 24-year-old would line up at the start in Brest alongside two team leaders in Primož Roglič, who came second last year, and Steven Kruijswijk, third in 2019.
Vingegaard, who has progressed as a top climber, will help American star Sepp Kuss in the key mountain stages across the Tour.
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Dumoulin, who was expected to be in the team, announced at the beginning of the year that he was taking a break in his career. Since then, the former Giro winner has not returned to competition.
Dumoulin’s replacement is the strongest signal yet that Dumoulin, 30, might not return from his self-imposed break from competition.
It’s unknown if or when Dumoulin might return to competition, but it’s obvious Jumb0-Visma is making its most important racing plans without him.
https://twitter.com/JumboVismaRoad/status/1386591417569615873
This season, Vingegaard won two stages and the overall at Coppi e Bartali as well as a stage at the UAE Tour, and was second at Itzulia Basque Country behind Roglič.
“He has shown that he can play a crucial role in high mountains, in the Alps and in the Pyrénées,” said sporting director Grischa Niermann. “In theory, Jonas may be a candidate for a grand tour himself … but he needs time.”
— AFP contributed to this report
Jumbo-Visma for 2021 Tour de France:
Primož Roglič (SLO)
Steven Kruijswijk (NED)
Wout van Aert (NED)
Sepp Kuss (USA)
Tony Martin (GER)
Mike Teunissen (NED)
Robert Gesink (NED)
Jonas Vingegaard (DEN)