Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) nearly got his season off to the perfect start when he finished 2nd behind Alejandro Valverde in the Vuelta a Andalucia prologue, his first race of the season. Having already finished 2nd in several races in 2013 - most notably in the Eneco Tour - the Dutchman now wants to swap some of the near-misses for wins.
Tom Dumoulin just missed out on taking his first win of the 2014 season in just his first race, the opening stage of the Ruta del Sol. He was just seven seconds adrift at the end of the 7.3km prologue, beaten by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
Not far behind was Simon Geschke who rode a great race to finish in ninth, making it two riders in the top 10 for Team Giant-Shimano. In his first race for the team, 21-year-old Daan Olivier finished in 43rd position, just 33 seconds down.
Despite taking a very good result in his first race of the season, Dumoulin was disappointed.
“I’m becoming a collector of second places now, after last season," he said. "The legs were good and I don’t know where I could have made up the time, he was just faster than me on that course.
“I’m disappointed but the legs are there. The bike felt super fast and I felt strong so hopefully the win won’t be far off – i’m done with second places now.”
Coach Christian Guiberteau tried to see the near-miss from a positive perspective.
“Tom did a perfect race today technically," he said. "He was really focused on getting the win and obviously he is going to be disappointed to come second but he is still young and it is just his first race of 2014 so he can be happy with his performance.
“Simon also did a great ride to finish in the top 10. The second place is bitter sweet as well though as we don’t have to defend the leaders jersey tomorrow now and can attack the stage how we want to.”
The race continues tomorrow with a very hilly first stage that ends at the top of a category 3 climb. Starting at 14.15 CET, you can follow it on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview of the race here.
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