Tom Dumoulin will not compete at next month's Road World Championship in Australia having brought forward his retirement from professional cycling.
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The Dutch cyclist said on Monday he was quitting "with immediate effect", two months after announcing he would leave the sport after Australia.
The former road time trial world champion, who raced for Team Jumbo-Visma, won the Giro d'Italia in 2017. He also claimed time trial silver medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and was runner-up at the 2018 Tour de France.
"I decided to quit professional cycling with immediate effect," the 31-year-old said on twitter.
"I still had one project on my wishlist to end my career with a bang - the World Championship in Australia. I wanted to tackle that road to the World Championship the way I tackled the road to the Tokyo Olympics.
"But I notice that I can't do it anymore. The tank is empty, the legs feel heavy and the training sessions are not working out as I hoped and I also need to do a good performance and have a good feeling at the World Championship."
Dumoulin said he had not been the same since his training crash in September last year which required surgery.
"Even though the farewell didn't turn out the way I hoped, I look back on my career with incredible pride. I worked hard for it, took a lot of passion and pleasure from it for many years, and delivered brilliant performances," he added.
Australian Associated Press
