[Author’s Note: This is a piece about a bicycle race, however, it’s not meant to be a piece of sports journalism — rather it’s better classified as a work of creative non-fiction. We can never know what goes through a cyclist’s head when they race, we can never truly understand their motives, their inspirations, but their actions tell a story, and my goal here is to distill those storytelling elements into a broader, if somewhat embellished narrative.]

Table of Contents:
Prologue/The Breakaway
The French Offensive
Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 1
Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 2
Tom Dumoulin’s 30 Seconds of Payback
The…

[Author’s Note: This is a piece about a bicycle race, however, it’s not meant to be a piece of sports journalism — rather it’s better classified as a work of creative non-fiction. We can never know what goes through a cyclist’s head when they race. We can never truly understand their motives, their inspirations — yet their actions tell a story, and my goal here is to distill those storytelling elements into a broader, if somewhat embellished narrative.]

Table of Contents: Prologue/The Breakaway The French Offensive Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 1 Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 2 Tom Dumoulin’s 30 Seconds of Payback…

[Author’s Note: This is a piece about a bicycle race, however, it’s not meant to be a piece of sports journalism — rather it’s better classified as a work of creative non-fiction. We can never know what goes through a cyclist’s head when they race. We can never truly understand their motives, their inspirations — yet their actions tell a story, and my goal here is to distill those storytelling elements into a broader, if somewhat embellished narrative.]

Table of Contents: Prologue/The Breakaway The French Offensive Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 1 Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 2 Tom Dumoulin’s 30 Seconds of Payback…

[Author’s Note: This is a piece about a bicycle race, however, it’s not meant to be a piece of sports journalism — rather it’s better classified as a work of creative non-fiction. We can never know what goes through a cyclist’s head when they race. We can never truly understand their motives, their inspirations — yet their actions tell a story, and my goal here is to distill those storytelling elements into a broader, if somewhat embellished narrative.]

Table of Contents: Prologue/The Breakaway The French Offensive Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 1 Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 2 Tom Dumoulin’s 30 Seconds of Payback…

[Author’s Note: This is a piece about a bicycle race, however, it’s not meant to be a piece of sports journalism — rather it’s better classified as a work of creative non-fiction. We can never know what goes through a cyclist’s head when they race. We can never truly understand their motives, their inspirations — yet their actions tell a story, and my goal here is to distill those storytelling elements into a broader, if somewhat embellished narrative.]

Table of Contents: Prologue/The Breakaway The French Offensive Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 1 Slovenian Rhapsody, Part 2 Tom Dumoulin’s 30 Seconds of Payback…

It starts with the Cervélo.

You see, the Cervélo was a gift, a very nice gift, perhaps the nicest gift a sluggish lout like me could ever receive. Many stars had to properly align for a dirtbag freelance writer like me to end up with a Cervélo time trial bike like that. First, my father-in-law had to become a mechanical engineer, work for a lifetime, retire, and transform into an avid builder of bespoke recumbent bicycles. Second, my father-in-law had to build up several years long relationships with dozens of other cycling enthusiasts in rural Hartford County, Maryland. Third, two…