Approaching the beginning of the 2012 season, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) has begun to prepare for the portion of the year that seems to suit him best – the beginning. After taking six wins in 2011, most of them in the early season, the Frenchman is looking to spread the wealth throughout a larger part of 2012.
Along with the Tour de France, the Olympics, and the World Championships, Dumoulin has his sights set on Paris-Nice.
Dumoulin was one of the hottest riders in the peloton to start the season. He won a stage of Etoile de Bessèges and a stage of the Tour du Haut Var, as well as stages four and seven of the Volta a Catalunya.
After taking second on stage two of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Dumoulin cooled off considerably. Winner of a stage in 2008, Dumoulin was selected for the Cofidis roster at the Tour de France, but could never make it near the front in a bunch kick. Though he was able to come back in August, winning a stage and the overall in Paris-Corrèze, Dumoulin expressed displeasure regarding his inability to duplicate his early season results late in 2011.
“I got six victories. I hung on until the end of the season, but I’m still a bit disappointed in my results in August and after,” he told Velochrono. “I made the Worlds, but I still would have liked better results in races like Paris-Tours, Paris-Brussels, and Paris-Bourges.
“I control my form fairly well early in the season, and I’ll try to do the same for 2012. I would love to win a stage at Paris-Nice. Then I will head to the Dauphiné and the Tour, where I will be aiming for a stage victory, even if it’s always complicated. I work for that. I set high goals because I do not want to win just some races.”
After losing their WorldTour status last year, Cofidis was once again unable to get a ProTeam license, and will race 2012 as a Pro Continental team. But the 31-year-old said that his team’s professional status would not affect his goals.
“Compared to my profile as a racer, it’s fine,” he mentioned about riding for the Pro Continental team. “I do not miss a lot of races that I would like to do. Milan-Sanremo? I didn’t do it last year because there was the Volta a Catalunya at the same time, and we had divided the (sprinting) roles with Leonardo Duque.
“No, my goal early in the season is really to win a stage of Paris-Nice. After that, it will be the same as usual. I want to continue doing what I can do. I am still generally happy with my season – I was more consistent that in 2010. I simply lacked success in the Tour de France, but my condition was good.”
Without giving too much away about his plans for the biggest races in the Olympic year, Dumoulin preferred to speak about what comes next, and his primary targets for early 2012.
“Yes, [the short term] is what motivates me,” he added. “Paris-Nice is a great race, and I’ve never won there. It will be competitive early in the season, and it suits me. I will follow the same pattern as this year, even looking to the Amstel Gold Race if our team is invited.”