High praise for Tom Dumoulin's Giro victory; First major cycling victory for NL in 37 years
Tom Dumoulin's historic victory in the Giro race in Italy is on the front page of all major Dutch newspapers on Monday. Big things are expected for te 26-year-old cyclist. Dumoulin is the first Dutch ever to win the Giro d'Italia and only the third Dutch to win a major cycling race. This is the first major cycling victory for the Netherlands in 37 years, according to AD.
Joop Zoetemelk, winner of the Tour de France in 1980, sees a golden future for Dumoulin, he said to NRC. "If you win the Giro, you can win the Tour", he said to the newspaper. "Like me Tom started cycling late, which means you can stay motivated for longer."
"I watched with a lot of admiration", Jan Janssen, Tour de France winner in 1968, said to the Telegraaf. "A true champion."
The Volkskrant did a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the last day of the Giro, under the headline: "Dumoulin's nerve-racking day ends in historic triumph".
"As first Dutch, Tom Dumoulin won the Tour of Italy. And how", Trouw wrote. "In the same breath as Jansen and Zoetemelk."
Both AD and Telegraaf's sport sections are in pink, like Dumoulin's jersey, on Monday.
Dumoulin himself seemed stunned by his victory. "What just happened?!?!?! I think I won the Giro d'Italia today!!! WTF!!!" he wrote on Twitter. "Forever thankful to my amazing teammates and team to pull this one off!! Incredible three weeks!!"
The Dutch cyclist was flooded with congratulation messages. "What a fantastic performance by Tom Dumoulin during the last time trial", Dutch King Willem-Alexander said on Twitter. Prime Minister Mark Rutte called to congratulate him. "Historic victory! After 37 years a Dutchman again won a major cycling round", Rutte tweeted.
A million people tuned in to watch Dumoulin be named the winner of the Giro live on Sunday, according to KijkOnderzoek. Dumoulin's historic victory gave commercial broadcaster Eurosport fifth place in viewer numbers on Sunday.
