Dumoulin completed his favourite discipline in rainy weather. “I tried to go full out and it went pretty well. I noticed that in the second part of the time trial I didn’t have the power anymore. As a result, my pace went down a little bit. That is not very strange and of course you can expect that. It took some getting used to, but the feeling was definitely good. I always want to get everything out of myself. That is what I did again today. I’m satisfied, although I still see plenty of growth opportunities.”

Dumoulin is especially happy to be a cyclist again. “I think it’s great to be back. It felt very good to race. I came to Switzerland without expectations. I just hope to improve here in the coming weeks and build a good base. I still have plenty of steps to take in the coming time.”

“It’s very nice that Tom is back in the race”, sports director Frans Maassen said. “Today’s time trial was a first measuring point to see where he would stand. This is a start we can build on. We are also going to see how he is going to get through the coming week. There is a lot of climbing this week. We want to help our man for the GC, Sam Oomen. Maybe there will also be some opportunities for other guys to go for stage wins.”