Just When You Thought It Was Over, It's Back When Tom Dumoulin took a sabbatical from cycling a little over a year ago, it was easy to assume that his career was over.

The demands of competing at the top level had become increasingly extreme during his time in the peloton, and long before deciding to take a hiatus, Dumoulin openly questioned the inherent absurdity of his profession. In a spring 2019 interview with Procycling, he wondered aloud, "Why do that when you have to find new ways to break yourself down and find new places of pain?"

To the Grand Tour winner sitting in the hallway of the Parador Hotel atop Mount Teide, such a statement felt like a thought crime. Dumoulin continued to climb up and down the volcano that spring in preparation for his unwilling attempt at the Giro d'Italia, but he could no longer bear the burden of repeating it, and in January 2021 he dismounted from the carousel altogether.

After a few months of rest, Dumoulin was tempted to compete in the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics. Yet here he is in Budapest, leading the Jumbo Visma in the 2022 Giro.

"Part of my enjoyment is also getting the most out of myself," Dumoulin told reporters Thursday afternoon. 'Because you have to watch your weight, you have to train hard, you have the pressure of having to run at full throttle every day. But I enjoy getting the most out of myself. That's what motivates me."

In the early season training camps, the solitude of a Giro contender must feel almost absolute. Dumoulin grins, "I like racing, but not the preparation." This time around, Dumoulin traveled to Colombia in at least January and February, and had his second high-altitude camp in his usual Tenerife location last month.

Dumoulin has raced only 12 days this season after abandoning the Catalunya Pass due to illness. His sixth place at last month's Volta Limburg Classic was his best result of the year, but there are few reliable indicators of his condition given that he suffered a back injury during the UAE Tour in February.

Then again, Dumoulin raced only 13 days before winning the 2017 Giro and only 11 days when he finished second overall in Rome the following year. However, this year's Giro will be his first Grand Tour since finishing seventh overall in the 2020 Tour de France. Confident in his preparation, Dumoulin is aware that he is jumping into the unknown.

"I've been on the podium a few times in Grand Tours, so I don't think I'm crazy to repeat that. But with the last couple of months of preparation, it's a big question mark," Dumoulin admitted. But in the past I've done it even when I didn't have a good feeling about the race beforehand. But in the past, we've done it without having a good feeling beforehand in the race, and we've done it well.

"Whether you can do your best," he said, "I'm 100% sure it's possible.

Dumoulin will lead the Jumbo Visma team, which includes Tobias Foss, who finished ninth overall the previous year, but the Dutchman will leave Budapest as the clear leader of the team. This year's Giro will feature a 9km time trial on the second stage, which is also a chance for Dumoulin to make a name for himself in the overall race. Fellow countryman Mathieu van der Pol is favored to take the first pink jersey in Visegrad on Friday, but Dumoulin, the opening time trial winner in 2016 and 2018, could well take the pink jersey from him in 24 hours.

"On paper, the time trial here already looks very good, even if we won't be able to scout the route until Saturday morning because of the traffic in Budapest," Dumoulin said. Whatever the outcome, Dumoulin's outlook over the next three weeks will be more certain when the Giro reaches Italy next week and the familiar summit of Mount Etna on stage 4.

"It's always good to have a big day fairly early in the Grand Tour. But for me, I'll know more after the Etna stage," Dumoulin said, insisting that the pressure to perform is the same as it was a few years ago.

"I'm curious to see where this Grand Tour will take me, but it's been the same in other Grand Tours. I always approach it the same way. There are always question marks before the race and as soon as the race starts you know.

Heading into this race, Dumoulin insisted that he had seen very little of the route map and softly pushed back against his rivals' assessments. 'I don't mind worrying about the recent Cara Paz victories and what I can do in return, but what's the point? I will run to the finish every day for three weeks."

It's hard to imagine that Dumoulin, known for his love of Italy, hasn't at least glimpsed where this Corsa Rosa will take him over the next three months.

"Racing in Italy feels special," Dumoulin said. The people are so passionate, so chaotic. Chaotic and passionate. Chaotic and passionate.

In other words, if Dumoulin ever had the burden of competing in a Grand Tour again, it was always here. For better or worse, his adventures in Italy are never dull. That's part of its charm.

"A happy man goes a long way ......" He said. 'It's good to be where you want to be. It inspires you to get the most out of yourself."

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