Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) has confirmed that he will target the general classification at the Tour de France. The Dutchman was initially coy about his July objectives after placing second overall at last month´s Giro d´Italia, but he told De Telegraaf that he has recovered well from his efforts in Italy. `After the Giro d`Italia, I consciously took more rest than I would normally do,` Dumoulin told De Telegraaf. `For the first nine days, I hardly even touched the bike. I have never been so fresh two weeks after a Grand Tour.` Throughout the early part of the season, Dumoulin stressed that a decision on his Tour participation would only be taken after the Giro, but his reconnaissance of the cobbled stage of the Grande Boucle in April was a firm indication of his plans.ADVERTISEMENT `I had in mind since the winter that I really wanted to ride the double,` Dumoulin said. `But you never know what will happen in the Giro. For that reason, I always thought that I would really make the decision after that race.` By the time he finished the Giro in second place behind Chris Froome, Dumoulin was already certain of his participation in the Tour. On the night the Giro concluded in Rome, he informed the Sunweb team of his intention to line out in France, with the news made public the following week. `The Giro actually went very well from start to finish and I did not see anything crazy in those weeks,` Dumoulin said. `The choice to ride the Tour was actually quite simple for me.`
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