Arensman strikes again in the rain! Dutch rider attacks Pogacar and Vingegaard and stays ahead on La Plagne

The official start of the shortened stage was delayed until 2:45 PM local time. After the red flag was waved, there were no attacks. Lidl-Trek took the initiative and set the pace of the peloton. After just 12 kilometers, the intermediate sprint was already underway, with Jonathan Milan eager to collect all the points for his green jersey. It was not a difficult task for the Italian. There was no real battle for the sprint. Milan won the sprint, with Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) on his wheel.

Jonas Abrahamsen came in third. The Norwegian from Uno X-Mobility continued riding after the finish line and was briefly alone in the lead. But only briefly, because he was caught on the first climb. The Col du Pré (12.6 km at 7.7%) was the first climb on the schedule, and it was a category 1 climb. The first attack came from Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost).

Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) also joined the battle on the climb. This immediately set a high pace, claiming the first victims. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Emirates-XRG) was dropped, with Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike) close behind. They were not the only two from the two competing teams: Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) and Marc Soler (UAE) also got into trouble. Wout van Aert was the third Visma rider to be dropped. At UAE, that ‘honor’ went to Nils Politt.

Halfway up the Col du Pré, the game changed again. Attacks were launched, mainly in the leading group that had formed. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) accelerated 6 kilometers below the summit. Three riders were able to follow the Frenchman, who did not win the polka dot jersey in this stage: Roglic, Einer Rubio (Movistar), and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) went in pursuit. Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers), and Michael Storer (Tudor) were unable to keep up. The same applied to the chasing group, which included the yellow jersey of Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on behalf of Visma, as well as Sepp Kuss. The rider who is normally Vingegaard's last domestique in the mountains also struggled to keep up.

All this was due to Tim Wellens, the Belgian champion from UAE, who set the pace on the climb. At the front, Martinez and Roglic came together. The duo was joined by Paret-Peintre just below the summit. The mountain points went to Martinez, who quickly caught up with Pogacar, the leader of the secondary classification. After a short descent, the next climb began: Cormet de Roselend (5.9 km at 6.3%).

In the ascending phase just before this second category climb, Kevin Vauquelin got into trouble and was almost hit by a jury car. The number seven in the GC was unable to keep up with the pace, but was assisted by several Arkéa-B&B Hotels teammates. Uno X-Mobility decided to increase the pace in the peloton for this reason, in support of Tobias Halland Johannessen, who is eighth in the GC.

At the top of the Roseland, Martinez again took all the points. The climber struggled in the last kilometer, but with everything he had left, he was able to cross the line first. Roglic followed in third but managed to drop his fellow breakaway riders on the descent, en route to the final climb, La Plagne (19.3 km at 7.2%). The Slovenian's lead over the yellow jersey group was around a minute.

Meanwhile, it started to rain heavily in the French Alps. Wellens was still the man at the front of the peloton, reducing the gap to Roglic to half a minute with 30 kilometers to go. For Visma | Lease a Bike, only Simon Yates and Victor Campenaerts were keeping up with Vingegaard. The group of favorites managed to catch up with Roglic after a 55-kilometer attack, just before the foot of La Plagne.

Wellens' work was done, as was that of his teammate Yates, who had hardly done any work at the front. Pogacar was left with only one teammate: Jonathan Narvaez. This first group also included two Dutch riders: Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL) in support of Oscar Onley and Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers). Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale took the lead, with Felix Gall in third position.

However, after an acceleration by Gall, Narvaez had to let go, as did Van den Broek. Arensman still had a burst of speed left, but saw his attack overtaken by Pogacar a few seconds later. One man was able to follow: Vingegaard. Yet Arensman managed to come back and tried several times to get away from the two. On his third attempt, Arensman finally succeeded and left the two behind.

Van den Broek, in turn, led the chasing group back to Pogacar and Vingegaard, with teammate Onley. With 10 kilometers to go, the gap to the new chasing group was 30 seconds behind Arensman. Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Johannessen were also in the group. Who would take the lead of this group? Yellow jersey wearer Pogacar took the initiative, clearly with the stage win in mind. The world champion did not receive much help, so the GC leader decided to take the lead himself. Vingegaard, Onley, and Lipowitz were able to follow.

With 5 kilometers to go, Arensman's lead was still 25 seconds. Pogacar continued to lead the chase. Aremensman's lead remained above 20 seconds, even with 3 kilometers to go to the top of La Plagne. In the last 2 kilometers, Lipowitz took over from Pogacar, because Onley, his rival for third place, had been dropped from the group of four.

In the final kilometer, Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Lipowitz came dangerously close to the Dutchman. Arensman dug deep once more and held on to the finish line, narrowly beating the sprinting trio. Arensman barely managed to raise his hands after crossing the finish line, having now won a stage in the Pyrenees and the Alps.