Updated October 20, 2025 04:01AM
Former Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin set off too quick, blew up, cramped, and still ran his first marathon stupid fast.
Dumoulin stopped the clock at 2:29:21 in the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday in what’s the latest reminder that even long-retired pros are still better at sport than you.
“I wanted to run under two and a half hours, and I succeeded. But it was painful and difficult,” Dumoulin told Het Laatste Nieuws after his ordeal.
Dumoulin’s time Sunday was good for 116th of more than 23,000 starters, and a result even the best-ranked club runners might strive decades for.
Dumoulin blows up but still blows away life-long runners
Dumoulin retired in summer 2022 with a time trial world title, a Maglia Rosa, and a second-place finish at the Tour de France.
It seems not all the lessons the 34-year-old learned on the bike translated to his running shoes in his marathon debut.
“Of course, I started way too fast,” Dumoulin told HLN. “I was running so well that I thought, ‘I’ll see.’ I don’t do that on the bike. I know what I can do and how to pace myself when I’m riding.
“With running, I secretly know that too, but I just enjoy it.”
Dumoulin’s official results from the 2025 Amsterdam Marathon show a not-so pro pacing strategy.
Indeed, Dumoulin blew up hard.
He ran the first half marathon in 1:09, and the second half in 1:20. This was no time trial specialist “negative split.”
“There’s such a difference between my fitness and what my muscles and tendons can handle,” Dumoulin said Sunday.
“I’m was in a strong group, and physically, I think, ‘I’m going to give it a try.’ But halfway through, I felt everything tense up and thought, ‘This is going to be a long way.’
“I briefly thought I might have to drop out,” he continued. “I stopped twice with cramps, after 25 and 35 kilometers, I think.”
Cramps aside, Dumoulin’s 3:32 minute per kilometer average pace [5:41 per mile] was seriously impressive.
Like any retired or active pro, Dumoulin is clearly a physiological freak.
But his marathon endeavor didn’t come fresh off the couch.
The Dutchman had already run the 2023 Amsterdam half marathon in 1:10:04, and he told HLN on Sunday he’d trained hard to break the mythical 2:30 barrier.
Pro cyclists are smokin’ fast in running shoes, too
It’s around this time every year that we’re reminded how frustratingly fast pro riders are in other endurance disciplines.
Whether it’s running, swimming, skimo, or rowing, they’re just so much better than us in what they see as casual cross-training.
Indeed, Geraint Thomas blew the cobwebs off of his very recent retirement this month to run a sub-20 5k. That’s not crazy impressive, but certainly WorldTour-level for the self-confessed running noobie.
Last year, Nacer Bouhanni sped out of his retirement to run a 2:34 marathon.
Visma-Lease a Bike climber Bart Lemmen and gravel privateer [and son of British track running legend, Steve – ed] Freddy Ovett were among the dozens of other pros who switched their cleats for running shoes with wild success last autumn.
Running to be robust: Modern peloton shifts stance on cross-training
Tadej Pogačar is among the riders who run for cross-training. (Photo: Chris Auld)
Running was, until recently, strictly off-limits in the world of pro cycling.
It can be a gateway to DOMs, grumbling tendons, and twisted ankles.
Fast forward a few years, and running in the off-season is actively encouraged by team trainers and physiotherapists.
“I really support riders running,” Visma-Lease a Bike head of performance Mathieu Heijboer told Velo. “It makes them more robust, less injury-prone, and it’s good for their bones. We really want to make them complete athletes, not just riders.”
Running even sees the ultimate endorsee – Tadej Pogačar.
“I’ve tried to put running into the off-season in the past two years,” Pogačar said last summer. “I try to start in the off-season and keep it as long as possible in the season.”
Running helps restore bone health for riders flirting with osteopenia, and gives an outlet to athletes voracious for a non-bike endorphin buzz.
And of course, ‘cross fiends Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel have no option but to log a few workouts before they go cantering round some muddy Belgian field.
If you check your favorite rider’s Strava feed in the next few months, don’t be surprised if they’ve started uploading some runs.
And don’t be upset if they’re significantly faster than you.