Tom Dumoulin admitted that he may not have been able to return to the professional peloton when he took a break a year ago to reflect on his life.

The Jumbo Visma rider is now racing again, competing in the UAE Tour where he is the favorite to win Tuesday's time trial stage. This time last year, however, he was not sure he wanted to race again and was very much looking back on his life.

"I didn't know, my wife didn't know, nobody knew. But in the end it was the right decision," Dumoulin admitted to La Gazzetta dello Sport. Life goes by so fast, you don't have time to reflect on things. I didn't ask myself the right questions."

"I decided to take time out and opened doors in my life that had been closed for too long. And I realized who I really wanted to be as a person and as a cyclist. I love this sport and now I know how to do it the best way I can.

Dumoulin scaled back his ambitions to 2021, first targeting the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics, where he won a silver medal behind teammate Primosz Roglic.

In early September, he was hit by a car while training and ended the season with a broken wrist. In the off-season, he traveled to Thailand in search of new inspiration, and recently spent time in the Colombian highlands in preparation for 2022, just days after the Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) wreck, and was unfazed by the dangers of training on the often-crowded Colombian roads.

"I didn't want to go through the usual routine of going to Teide or Sierra Nevada. I wanted to be in a cool place, vibrant, and with my teammates," Dumoulin explained his decision to go to Colombia.

"The roads were crowded and I had to be careful, but at least I didn't feel any more dangerous than in any other European country. I saw footage of Egan's crash, but it could have happened anywhere.

Dumoulin will lead Jumbo Visma in the Giro d'Italia, but he has not ruled out the possibility of returning to the Tour de France in the future. He is 31 years old and no longer obsessed with results, preferring to enjoy racing.

"One day I will return to the Tour. The Giro is not my second choice, it's my first. I love to fight for the overall in the Grand Tours and that's why I came back to the Giro," he explained.

Dumoulin will compete in the Strade Bianche, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, and Amstel Gold Races this spring, and will do high-altitude training camps instead of racing to develop the form he needs to compete in the overall on the Corsa Rosa.

"We've done similar programs in the past and felt good.

"I've never been at my best in the spring, and there's no point in chasing results in races when I want big results in May."