Tom Dumoulin has continued the process of establishing himself as one of the very best time triallists in the world by winning the Dutch championships in convincing fashion. On the fast 47.8km course in Zaltbommel, he averaged more than 51kph to put 52 seconds into Sebastian Langevel (Garmin-Sharp) while Jos Van Emden (Belkin) completed the podium.
Last week Tom Dumoulin proved that he has developed into one of the select few riders that can contest for the win in WorldTour time trials when he twice finished second behind Tony Martin in the Tour de Suisse time trials. Today he confirmed his status by taking his first national time trial title in dominant fashion.
With defending champion Lieuwe Westra focusing on his preparations for the Tour de France, a new title holder was to be found on a very fast 47.8km course in Zaltbommel. Dumoulin proved to be in a class of his own as only one rider, Sebastian Langeveld, finished within a minute of the Giant-Shimano rider, losing 52 seconds to the talented youngster.
Having been an early starter, Jos van Emden completed the podium after having been waiting in the hot seat for most of the day. Martijn Keizer (Belkin) held second for a long time but the later starters were always expected to lower the mark.
Dylan van Baarle (Garmin) beat Keizer to move into second, posting a time that was eventually good enough for 5th but it was Langeveld that caught the attention when he beat van Emden by 15 seconds. The next rider to finish, however, was Dumoulin and at all time checks he had proved his superioty, posting a time that was clearly the fastest.
The final two riders on the course were Stef Clement (Belkin) and Niki Terpstra (OPQS) but none of them were able to challenge Dumoulin. Clement got close to the podium by taking fourth while Terpstra had a disappointing ride to finish ninth.
Dumoulin will try to make it a clean sweep of the jerseys in Sunday's road race where he will line up as part of a strong Giant-Shimano team that has the numerical advantage compared to most of its rivals.
Result:
1. Tom Dumoulin 56.08
2. Sebastian Langeveld +0.52
3. Jos Van Emden +1.07
4. Stef Clement +1.35
5. Dylvan Van Baarle +2.05
6. Martijn Keizer +2.12
7. Peter Koning +2.18
8. Rick Flens +2.22
9. Thomas Dekker +2.40
10. Niki Terpstra +2.46
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