Arensman's victory through the eyes of former pro Boogerd: "This is cycling at its best"

“It's really bizarre. It just made me a little emotional. I had to take a deep breath and think: they're not going to catch him, because he deserved it so much. I felt so much tension, it was a real thriller,” said Boogerd.

“When you're the only one who can keep up with those guys and then attack two or three more times...,” the man from The Hague praised the INEOS rider. “He went from the group, which took real guts. You need courage to do that. Thymen went all out. This is cycling at its best, I have no words for it.”

Boogerd cannot understand why Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard let him win. “Pogacar went to catch him once, but he wasn't completely dropped and was back pretty quickly. You could also see that he was really strong, because he was able to pedal that big gear and push again. You have to be really good to do that. He still had power left and was able to keep up. Hats off, this is magnificent.”

“Pogacar is taking responsibility because he's racing to win. When Vingegaard sees the footage, he'll be kicking himself a few times... he just started too late and misjudged it,” analyzes the former rider.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that Arensman won because of that, because Lipowitz and Onley – numbers three and four – were dropped anyway. Attacking at the right moment is also part of the tactics of cycling, and you can't say he was handed the victory on a plate."

“Lipowitz was still in front, and then Thymen just pulled away,” he continued. “I wanted to drag that German off his bike, haha. I really couldn't hold on any longer. At that point, it didn't matter to me anymore. Pogacar saw him riding away, but Thymen didn't look back. If he had, he would have lost. But he gave it one more burst of speed.”

"We have a new Dutch mountain," concluded a proud Boogerd. "Five finishes and two Dutch riders. Alpe d'Huez has reason to fear... Winning a stage is always special, but a mountain stage is even more special. Winning two mountain stages – in the Pyrenees and the Alps – is pure enjoyment. Thymen is a thinker, but now it's paying off big time. It will be more difficult to race like this in the future, but it will make him ride more freely," the analyst predicts.