Cycling news - Tom Dumoulin past his peak, says former Tour de France stage winner Michael Boogerd.

The 2017 Giro d’Italia winner has not raced for almost a year due to injury but said recently that he “feels like Tom Dumoulin from two years ago again”.

However, Boogerd, who won two stage at the Tour de France during his career, is doubtful that the 29-year-old will rediscover his best form.

“I think Tom has peaked. He has had some wonderful years. I hope he will return to his old level,” he told Bureau Sport. “But with everything he has experienced. Whenever I hear or see him, I think he looks very different from when he won the Giro.”

Dumoulin won the Giro with Team Sunweb but left last year to join Jumbo-Visma.

He finished second at the Giro and Tour de France in 2018, but Boogerd suggests he is now feeling the pressure.

“Then [when he won the Giro] everything was new, he was very spontaneous and cheerful. Now he’s agitated. That is also part of it, but it is not the Dumoulin who won beautiful races or had good results in his heyday.

“You will get to this point in your career, but it has gone completely wrong up to now. Before that it was all good and everything went well. Everything was a gift. He also rode without stress and without pressure. When you see him, you see a nervous and tense person. I recognise that because that’s also been me in the past.”