It's no longer the time for tendinitis and Dumoulin knows it well. Today the head goes away, periodTendinitis undermined Fignon's career. The Parisian, whom we recently spoke about, remembering Nibali's victory in Asolo, he won his first Tour at 23 and his second at 24, beating big names like Hinault and Lemond. We are amazed by Pogacar's early victories, without realizing that it has already happened. Only that at that time the lesser physiological knowledge and often empirical preparations exposed the boys to workloads that the body was not ready to sustain.
Fignon struggled a lot to get back on his feet and he never quite succeededHe also took home the 1989 Giro d'Italia and some impressive second places, such as the one in 1984 in Italy behind Moser and the one in 1989 in Paris behind Lemond.
Today, it's no longer the time for tendonitis. Runners go to the gym. They learned not to abuse relationships Having understood that a high pedaling frequency allows for better power output, they integrate better after exertion and offer better support to the body. Today the weak point is in the head and there is little that can be done about it.If the thread breaks, there is no way to tie it again.
The pursuit of perfection
He talked about it a few days ago Enrico Battaglin, describing his difficulty in keeping up with the pace of current cycling.
"The problem," he said, "is that everyone has raised their bar. We need to pay attention to the details to bridge the gap." Plus, your stress level increases because you're always pushing the limit.This is why I don't believe in long careers. Even for leaders. When I was in the race, the true leaders focused on their goals and worked or left space for the rest of the races. Now they too are always at 110 percent».
He had talked about it previously Moreno Moser, telling of a conversation I had with Bettiol in the weeks leading up to the Tour.
«What Alberto told me is that cycling has become so all-encompassing that you have to take this job step by step. From now until the Tour I no longer exist, I'm a robotLife is all about cycling and training. Recovery will come later…”.
The example of Dumoulin
Dumoulin fell into the trap again, even though la prima volta he tried to tie the ends. In early 2021 he announced with a long post on Instagram and he would have stopped.
«I have decided to take an indefinite leave from our beautiful sport. I have been feeling a lot of pressure for too longI've forgotten myself, wanting to do the best for the team, the sponsors, and everyone else. I've forgotten what I really want in this sport and for my future. Because I don't have this clear answer for myself, I'm actually not doing my best for the people around me either. I really need time to get things straight in my head on what I want and how I want it."
The return
It wasn't a question of a lack of love for the sport, since after posting that writing of his, he went for a bike ride and made sure to be seen along the racetrack that passed near his home in Maastricht.
The call of the group was stronger, as was his desire not to give up. We saw it in Livigno. We applauded him on the podium of the Tokyo Olympic time trialWe deluded ourselves that the knot would hold. It was when we saw it stunned on the Block Haus At the Giro we understood that none of it was true. And as punctual as an omen, it arrived yesterday the announcement of the definitive withdrawal. It was a clockwork comeback, however: Tom would have given up after the World Championships time trial, but he didn't make it.
Back on the mat
«When I decided to come back – he wrote on Instagram – I did it with a sense of freedom, on my terms, with the support of the team and with my intrinsic motivation as my main fuelThis is what brought back the joy of cycling in my early days. But I notice that I can't take it anymore. The tank is empty.My legs are heavy, and training isn't going as well as I'd hoped. Since my serious accident in training last September (Dumoulin was hit by a car and had to undergo surgery to fix his right wrist, ed.), something has broken again. I had to stop my efforts once again and face another disappointment.».
It was too much and every attempt to get back in front it has aggravated the sense of fatigue and frustrationYou can fix tendonitis, but not your mind.
Risk of burnout
There are two ways to process the Dutch experience. Label him weak and let him go. Or reflect on the sample that he got lost in the name of the frantic search for perfectionMan is not a machine; there is a (subjective) limit beyond which it is risky to go. Burnout is an increasingly widespread syndrome in the world of work, for example, since permanent connectivity prevents us from escaping the pressure and need to be present.
The role of psychologists, and in some cases psychiatrists, has recently emerged in teams. The rider always tries to get up and start again, but there is no phase in his life that is not tyrannized by the need for perfectionWe're sure we'll soon read on social media that others with far less rewarding jobs are faring much worse. We have no indications to giveThese are still companies run by others. We're just wondering if that's okay.
