Tom Dumoulin is hoping to return to racing at the Volta a la Catalunya later this month. The Dutchman, who has not raced since last summer's Criterium du Dauphiné, was forced to pull back for health reasons before the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Jumbo Visma's scheduled debut this spring.

Dumoulin, whose knee injury from a crash at the Giro d'Italia ruined his 2019 campaign, was diagnosed with an intestinal parasite last month, putting his return to the bike on hold.

Dumoulin spoke to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf (opens in new tab) from Tenerife, where he has been training camp since earlier this month, about his illness and plans to return.

"I hope to return to Volta a Catalunya, but at the moment nothing is set in stone. I consider it to be a very crazy spring," he told De Telegraaf.

The race is currently under threat from the Covid-19 coronavirus, which the World Health Organization classified as a pandemic on Wednesday. In Italy, the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milan-San Remo have been canceled due to the spread of this virus.

Meanwhile, Paris-Nice has restricted spectators due to French government decree, and according to the president of the Spanish Cycling Federation, Catalonia plans to do the same.

The day before he left for Tenerife, four people were confirmed to have contracted the virus at the hotel and 700 guests were quarantined. For Dumoulin, however, it was a period of isolation from the stress of the pandemic.

"I wasn't worried and still am not. The whole island was not infected with coronavirus, and there were no negative travel advisories."

"I don't see too many people, so I'm very comfortable now; I cycle five or six hours a day back to my hotel. I follow the quarantine rules to the letter," he joked.

Dumoulin also discussed his own health issues, which caused him to miss Valencia and Tirreno and San Remo before being cancelled by organizer RCS Sport.

"I really felt super in December. I was running like a train, full of confidence and looking forward to the new season. In the end, I deteriorated so quickly that it was more than just a little fatigue."

"I didn't feel bad, but I couldn't function as a top athlete. I was missing about 20% of my energy. On the plane to Valencia I had to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes, so I went home right away.

"Later, I checked my stool and found that I was suffering from parasites."

Dumoulin took several weeks to recover from the parasite and was not feeling well afterwards because the antibiotics affected the bad bacteria as well as the good bacteria. The Dutchman added that it was only this month that he started feeling better.

"Actually, it's only in the last two weeks that things are really moving in the right direction. I don't know if it has anything to do with the intestinal upsets. Maybe I've had the parasite for years. The important thing is that now I am happy again.

"It was a mental blow to be sidelined, and the malaise was amplified because I felt miserable and tired. But last year I realized how much I love cycling and how much I love winning races. I always keep that in mind and it really helps me to keep looking forward in a positive way."

And the future begins in Catalunya, assuming the race goes ahead - 12 days is a long time in a sport where the coronavirus is spreading by the day. But Dumoulin's main goals, the Tour de France and the Tokyo Olympics, remain, and the Dutchman hopes the virus will die out in the summer.

"I think about the Tour sometimes, like the Olympics," Dumoulin said. It's still a long way off, but it's my goal for a beautiful summer." Hopefully the virus will slowly melt away as the weather warms up. For most riders, this precarious situation is quite frightening.

"My advantage is that I'm used to the fact that for almost a year I have no definite plan for my return; I've been in the same situation for almost a year.