Arensman sums up his climbing performance after tough Giro mountain stage

In stage fourteen of the Giro d'Italia, there was simply no stopping Jonas Vingegaard. The Visma | Lease a Bike Dane left everyone trailing on the final climb to Pila. Thymen Arensman was no exception: the Dutchman finished nearly one minute and twenty-three seconds behind the winner.

After his phenomenal time trial performance, many eyes were on Arensman again on Saturday afternoon. The rider from Deil is normally well suited to a long, steady climb — exactly the type of ascent the peloton faced to Pila (16 kilometres at an average of 7 per cent). And his form coming into the stage was not in question either.

Even so, the stage did not go entirely smoothly for the Netcompany-INEOS rider. Arensman crossed the line in sixth, around 1 minute 23 seconds behind winner Vingegaard — dropping one place in the general classification, from third to fourth. He then briefly addressed the press, in this case Eurosport, in his characteristic no-nonsense style.

"Our comms team sat down with Thymen and drew up a plan that would allow him to stay as focused as possible. The most important thing is that he isn't distracted — and that seems to be working," team director Geraint Thomas explained earlier to IDL Pro Cycling.

So what did Arensman have to say after stage fourteen? "It was certainly a tough day, but it was the same for everyone. It was very hot, and Visma | Lease a Bike set a beautiful tempo on all the climbs — so a hard day," the 26-year-old said. "I gave it everything I had."

He closed the brief interview with a nod to his teammates. "The team helped me brilliantly all day by keeping me cool. So I can be satisfied. I gave it everything I had — I can't do more than that."