RIDER QUOTES: TOM DUMOULIN WINS TOUR DE FRANCE TIME TRIAL

Tom Dumoulin (NED) raced to victory in the time trial of the Tour de France, taking his second win of the Tour after his victory on stage 9 to Andorra.

Stage 13 of the Tour de France was an individual time trial of 37.5km from Bourg-Saint-Andeol to La Caverne du Pont-d’Arc. Dumoulin was the fastest on the tough parcours, with a time of 50’15” and an average pace of around 44.7km/h.

Read the full race report here.

Download a copyright-free photo of Dumoulin’s victory here.

Tom Dumoulin (NED)

„It’s a day of two halves. I’m very happy with the win but my thoughts go out to everyone affected by the horrific attack in Nice. This morning we woke up to the terrible news and I had to get into my zone and focus on the time trial. It is terrible what happened today and it shadows the day a lot. I think we cannot let terrorists decide our lives in our society.

„During the recon which I did behind John [Degenkolb] in the team car I noticed there were a couple of tricky moments with the cross winds so I was well prepared and aware of it. Therefore we decided to race with a normal front wheel.

„Throughout the course anyway the wind was very dangerous and very hard to cope with. In the final run in there was one dangerous moment where I almost went off the road.

„Overall it was a very good time trial and it shows that I am in good shape at the moment. During the last two days I was not feeling so well, but today I had good legs. I was able to enjoy the ride today and I was able to concentrate on my performance. I know I can pick my days during the Tour and go for a good result, and today’s victory gives me a lot of confidence.“

Marc Reef (NED)

„This is super and we are really pleased. Everything went perfectly today just like we planned. We are proud of the performance of Tom and of the whole team. We were feeling positive about today and with new aerosuit we proved that challenging the tiny margins are worth it. Tom checked it one time in the car upfront with John [Degenkolb], especially how John would cope in the wind because we knew the wind was pretty strong.

„From the moment he started you could see that Tom had power in his legs and he was ready for it. Throughout the time trial, he remained very concentrated in his effort and did a very good performance. On the intermediate points, he already had a gap over his competitors, and then he just continued and kept on pushing until the finish line. Tom has shown today he is an incredible talent.“