When Thymen Arensman explored Friday’s stage in the run-up to this Giro d’Italia, the queen stage with six climbs and 5,000 meters of elevation gain, the sun was shining and the mood was great. The Dutch rider recalled it over the past three weeks when asked about his chances; which he himself considered good.
The sun shone again on Friday, but Arensman crossed the line with his cycling jersey wide open and his head bowed. The Dutchman finished twelfth, 1.45 minutes behind stage winner Sepp Kuss, but more importantly: he lost so much time on the final climb to the Australian Jai Hindley that he passed him in the general classification and is now third.
Arensman held a podium position for a long time this Giro; a new step in the development of the 26-year-old driver, who has been regarded as the best Dutch tour rider for a number of years. His fifth place and stage victory in the 2022 Vuelta a España and second sixth places in the Giro (2023 and 2024) were already impressive, but his real breakthrough came last year, when Arensman turned out to be the only rider in the Tour de France who could beat yellow jersey winner Tadej Pogacar in the high mountains. He won a mountain stage in both the Pyrenees and the Alps.
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That success was the result of a new approach to Arensman’s life as a professional cyclist. In earlier years he was obsessive about his sport; in every training session, with every meal, he pushed the limits of his capabilities. The expectations that Arensman placed on himself had a paralyzing effect. For example, his Giro failed last year after he blocked during the opening weekend due to stress and immediately lost a lot of time.
Since then, Arensman has tried, with the help of a new trainer, to be more relaxed with his training regimen and diet. He went on a cycling holiday with his brother-in-law, found joy in the sport again and then showed in the French summer that few riders in the current peloton can ride up a mountain as well as he can.
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Earlier this season it became apparent that Arensman had managed to continue his good form. He rode a great time trial in Tirreno-Adriatico and finished third in the final classification in Tour of the Alps. His British team Netcompany-Ineos sent him as shared leader to Bulgaria, together with former Giro winner Egan Bernal, where the Tour of Italy started this year.
Taking time on Vingegaard
This time there was no mental breakdown in the opening weekend. In fact, after just two stages Arensman was in fourth place in the general classification. And in the tenth stage, a 42 kilometer time trial from Viareggio to Massa, the Dutchman showed how good he is. Behind his teammate Filippo Ganna, Arensman finished second with an average speed of almost 53 kilometers per hour, the best of the classification riders. He even took time on the otherwise unapproachable Jonas Vingegaard, who is heading unthreatened for his first Giro victory, and rose to third place in the rankings.
“I think I did well,” Arensman said soberly after the time trial. He indicated that he was happy with the result, praised the team for the help he had received in the preparation – for example, he changed position on his time trial bike last winter – but he did not say a word about his chances in the general classification.
Egan Bernal is a real fighter on the bike, and super relaxed off it
Also up Instagram page it seems as if not Arensman, but his team, is on course for a podium place in the Giro. “We have a nice group and have fun together. This way we stay positive even though we get tired,” he said. In almost every message thanked he are team; it hardly talks about his own achievements.
A conscious choice, Arensman said earlier this week. It’s his way of dealing with the pressure, expectations and disappointments during a Grand Tour. He called top sport unrelenting and said that he and his team had looked for a way to deal with all the emotions that arise during a grand tour.
The solution that was devised is apparently simple: live from day to day, spend little time on the media and the competition, stick to daily routines and try to relax off the bike.
The latter, Arensman said on the first rest day of this Giro, was something he learned from his teammates who previously won the Tour de France: Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas, who has now retired. “Egan is a real fighter on the bike and super relaxed off the bike. He knows when to be on and off, which is extremely important in a big tour.”
In any case, the competition concentration is there for Arensman, as can be seen from his parents, who have traveled to Italy to be along the course in the last week. “Thymen makes a very focused impression,” his father Martijn Arensman texts from Italy.
Twice to a ski resort
Since teammate Bernal dropped to eleventh place in the rankings, there is no longer any doubt about who will be the leader of the British millions in this Giro. Arensman still has to get used to that role, despite the ten Grand Tours he has already completed, the Dutchman said earlier this Giro. “Because my teammates are such good guys, I find it difficult when they have to make an extra effort for me. But that is what makes a team.”
On Friday, Arensman again thanked his team after losing third place. He told Eurosport that he did what he could and that the Giro is not over until the peloton finishes in Rome on Sunday.
His combativeness is conceivable, because a podium place in a Grand Tour, Arensman’s big dream, is still possible: a mountain stage awaits on Saturday in which the riders have to climb twice to the Piancavallo ski resort, a first category climb (14.5 kilometers with an average 7.8 percent gradient). The difference between him and Hindley’s third place is only 29 seconds.
The peloton will then enter the Italian capital in a ceremonial stage on Sunday, and then it is only six weeks until the Tour de France. It is not yet clear whether Arensman will appear at the start like last year, nor what role he would get. But whether as a stage hijacker or as a classification rider, Arensman has now shown that he is capable of both at the highest level.