I have decided to take an indefinite leave from our beautiful sport. I have felt a great deal of pressure for too long. [...] I forgot myself." They are the words with which Tom Dumoulin, Like a bolt from the blue, he announced his retirement from cycling. For now, it seems like a revocable decision. It's more of a pause for reflection than a farewell, but it's certainly a wake-up call. The Dutch champion is in the midst of a crisis.
But let's try to analyze, as far as possible, what's going on in Tom's head. And we do it with Elisabetta Borgia, sports psychologist. Pressure is increasingly present in the lives of top athletes. The recent autobiography of the skiing champion Marcel Hircher (stopped at 30) talks practically only about how he handled the pressure. About a year ago, he made the same decision. Marcel Kittel. The German has also publicly expressed his understanding and closeness to Dumoulin. And, not far behind, Moreno Moser has done the same.
Some have spoken of post-lockdown depression, but the issue is much broader and decidedly personal.
Dr. Borgia, what happened to Tom?
Given that I don't know Dumoulin personally, I'm speaking from what I've learned from the media. It's certainly news to us, but not to him. This thing had been brewing in the Dutchman for a long time. It's a difficult decision that inevitably has consequences: financially, on the team's plans. What surprises me is the timing.
Why?
Doing it now, with the season just restarted, while there are training camps... He must have obviously thought towards the end of last season: okay, now I'll stop, recover, try again. But it didn't go that way.
He talked about pressure, an increasingly recurring theme…
Cycling is being done at an ever higher level. If 10 years ago an athlete was expected to simply go fast and in the best of circumstances he would have a big article at the end of the month in the monthly magazine, now it is not like that. There's social media, he's surrounded by so many people—trainers, physiologists, dieticians—who are all after him. And while having everything under control is an advantage, on the other hand, it's easy to risk burnout, that is, a crisis. For me, though, it's not all negative.
That?
It's an evolution. It's something different. Today I think it's difficult to find athletes with the longevity we had a few years ago. As I said, the demands have changed. Today the pro has social media, he has character, he has commitments on Zwift, those with sponsors, with family... Tom talked about not being able to manage other people's expectations anymore, as if he just had to give feedback to thousands of people.
Is it like he went out of his mind?
Yes, and when that happens, you start to look around, you lose your sense of self. You're disoriented. This moment comes to all high-level athletes. You're strong, you're under pressure, and you need to prove yourself. But in the meantime, things aren't coming easily, and you're no longer a young man on the launch pad, but a champion with people around you looking for validation. But you've begun a journey of being able to stay on top of yourself. So it's not all bad. Then one thing struck me.
What?
After announcing his retirementTom went for a two-hour bike ride, so it's not a lack of passion for cycling, but a problem with the actual competitive part of the sport. We're always thinking about getting things done. Doing more, doing more... and it often happens that athletes struggle on their rest days because they can't do anything else but their activity. However, breaks are important. They're important throughout the day at the end of training and throughout the season. They should be planned just like races. For there to be hills, there must be valleys, otherwise you enter a negative cycle.
Do you think Tom will come back?
Tough question. Time will help. I'm convinced that to manage conflicts, you need to step back and view things with the right detachment. Walking away will help him lower his emotional arousal level and handle things more calmly. I hope he can find a competent and sensitive person by his side who can help him find his path: whether that means starting again or quitting and doing something else.
