Thymen Arensman can’t remember a crash in Vuelta: ‘Helmet saved my life’ | Vuelta

The Dutchman has pain in his face and has lost a tooth, but it looks like he hasn’t broken anything. Arensman was 24th in the general classification. He was five minutes and ten seconds behind the series leader Lenny Martinez. He finished sixth in the general classification of the Vuelta last year.

“It was quite scary, I completely lost a few hours”, Arensman reported on a video distributed by his team on Saturday. Arensman appeared heavily battered with a brace around his neck in front of the camera in the hotel where his team was staying. I don’t think I broke anything. But I’m not that pretty anymore,” he said with a faint smile. “I’m missing a tooth and my neck hurts. My eye doesn’t look good either. In fact, my whole body hurts. My head too, so I have to take it easy.”

Arensman remembered little of the accident. “At least I know I was lucky. This could have ended much worse. I probably wouldn’t have been here without a helmet. My girlfriend is now here and we are traveling to the Netherlands today,” said the rider from Beesd in Gelderland. Arensman also gives a short update on his Instagram page. “My helmet probably saved my life.”

Leader Geraint Thomas at Ineos also crashed earlier in the seventh stage, but was able to continue. Teammate Laurens De Plus had to give up after a fall in the team time trial. The Belgian suffered a fracture in his hip.

Geoffrey Soupe won the seventh stage. The Frenchman crossed the finish line first in the Spanish coastal town of Oliva after more than 200 kilometers by beating Orluis Aular and Edward Theuns in the bunch sprint.

Lenny Martinez, the 20-year-old Frenchman from Groupama–FDJ, appeared a bit uneasy at the start of the seventh stage. He was the youngest rider ever to wear the red jersey (20 years and 52 days old) and is also the youngest rider ever to lead a Grand Tour general classification.

With the leader’s jersey on the shoulders of the young Martinez of Groupama – FDJ, the red caravan started the more than 200 kilometers between Utiel and Oliva. A stage that gave the GC riders the chance to recover from yesterday’s climbing and fleeing violence, when the Pico del Buitre was climbed at the end of stage six.

After the official start of the stage, two riders attempted a breakaway. José Herrada of Cofidis and Ander Okamika of Burgos-BH led for a long time over the hilly early stages of the stage, but got no more than 2.5 minutes from the peloton.

Halfway through the stage, with the contours of Valencia in sight, the lead of the Spaniards was just over a minute. Okamika had a puncture ten kilometers before the coastal city and his attack partner Herrada decided to wait for him. A noble gesture, but one that further reduced the small chance of success of the escape.

At the exit of the famous orange city, the lead of the duo was only fifteen seconds and it was not long before Herrada and Okamika were caught. The latter did not stop there and sprinted away from the peloton again.

Okamika then hit another one-minute gap. It turned out to be a last convulsion, because the Spaniard was finally caught just before the intermediate sprint in Cullera. Kaden Groves won the intermediate sprint and strengthened his position in the points classification.

In the remaining thirty kilometers along the Spanish coast, the sprinter teams tried to position themselves for the pre-anticipated mass sprint. A number of riders crashed with less than ten kilometers to go, including the winner of yesterday’s stage, Sepp Kuss.

Another crash at six kilometers from the finish, in which about fifteen riders were involved. Arensman crashed hard and remained in an unnatural position on the asphalt. He had to be treated by emergency services.

In the bunch sprint through the streets of Oliva, Geoffrey Soupe won. He narrowly beat Orluis Aular from Venezuela and the Belgian Edward Theuns.

Lenny Martinez survived his first day in the red jersey and remains the overall leader. Tomorrow there will be a mountain stage, when the peloton will face five categorized climbs between Dénia and Xorret de Catí.

Check everything about the Vuelta here, with the latest news, premium stories, columns, videos and podcasts and all results and rankings.