A Dutchman finally has a chance to win a Grand Tour. Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin) may become the first Dutchman since Joop Zoetemelk (1980) to take a three-week race if he can defend his Red Jersey. The Dutch WorldTour team LottoNL-Jumbo have said they will support him and his team whenever they can to ensure he wins the race.

"We sincerely hope that Tom will win the time trial, he comes in red and we can defend him," says Jumbo-Lotto team manager Merijn Zeeman, who surprisingly refers to the teams as “we”.

"Tom and Giant understand very well that we are here primarily to show ourselves. But Lotto-Jumbo and Giant are two teams who give each other a hand. We will help where we can," he explains .

but Zeeman says the two teams are both weak going uphill, so it would need to be on the flat that LottoNL-Jumbo lend some firepower to the sprint-orientated Giant-Alpecin.

"When we talk about monitoring stages, Giant are naturally vulnerable in the mountains. That goes for us too. So it will be in pieces in between where we can do something to keep everything under control. But if there is one place we can’t help, it’s uphill I'm afraid."

Dumoulin was quite pleased with the words of Zeeman, but do not yet count empire. "Those are nice words. First we have the time trial and then see where we stand."