Tom Dumoulin watches Vingegaard ride a bigger chainring than Ganna in Giro time trial

Tom Dumoulin, who was recently a guest at the Giro d’Italia, joined the broadcast of Kop over Kop on Tuesday to analyze the time trial—a discipline that has been his specialty. He shared his thoughts on the performances of winner Filippo Ganna, runner-up Thymen Arensman, and Jonas Vingegaard, who perhaps performed below expectations.

Dumoulin expressed his admiration for Ganna, a time trialist he finds a joy to watch. “It’s pure pleasure to watch. Only Remco Evenepoel can match, maybe even surpass this level. Outside of Evenepoel, there is no time trialist like Ganna. This is perfection,” he said.

“He’s very tall and incredibly strong, which allows him to produce enormous power. And he combines that with beautiful style on the bike. Ganna is extremely aerodynamic. Look at how he places his head behind his hands to fill the gap. There’s a lot of aerodynamic turbulence between the helmet and the hands, yet he manages to push the wind over and around himself.”

Thymen Arensman, who finished second, once again avoided post-race interviews. Dumoulin commented: “Personally, I see it as part of a rider’s job to talk to the media. I understand Thymen’s reasons and I can empathize, but I do think he has a bit of an obligation to share his thoughts.”

“It doesn’t need to be every day or for long, but a brief interview after the finish would have been fine.” Later, Arensman’s team, Netcompany INEOS, shared a statement via their channels, which can be read on our site via this link.

Jonas Vingegaard, who finished 13th and lost roughly a minute to Arensman, surprised Dumoulin with his equipment choice. Vingegaard used a larger chainring (68 teeth) than Ganna (64). “If you’re not having a good day or not riding fast enough, you either go too light or too heavy. I don’t think Jonas needed this,” Dumoulin explained.

“As a time trial expert, I know that trying such a large gear can misalign the chain on the cassette. This increases mechanical resistance more than you want. Ideally, you want the chain as straight as possible,” he added.