Grateful Arensman on Giro fight: ‘Egan Bernal was much more emotional than I was in the last few days’

The final mountain stage in the Giro d’Italia is now behind us, and Thymen Arensman of Netcompany INEOS sits fourth in the general classification. The Dutchman was passed by Jai Hindley of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe on Friday and could not take the third podium spot on Piancavallo. In fact, he had to keep looking over his shoulder after initially being distanced.

Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) started stage 20 just 58 seconds behind Arensman and even tried to knock the Dutchman off fourth place on the final climb. The Canadian did not succeed, partly because Arensman was paced perfectly on the steep sections by teammate Egan Bernal.

Arensman is not yet counting his chickens with only the final stage in Rome left to ride. “There is still one day to go, so who knows?” he told Eurosport, before starting his analysis of the twentieth stage of the Giro.

“Egan was the MVP today,” Arensman said. “We had a plan and we executed it perfectly. We both delivered a very good performance and rode that final climb almost perfectly.”

Gee-West’s pressure on Arensman was presumably part of one of the scenarios inside Netcompany INEOS. “I was not really scared. We had the plan to ride the climb at our own pace, and I know that on steep climbs like Friday I have to do it more at my own pace, so that I can make the difference on the slightly less steep sections. It is very nice that it all comes together.”

Arensman called Bernal the MVP, but his other teammates also earned praise. “I have to say chapeau to the whole team. They did a fantastic job and I am very proud and honoured to ride for this team and achieve a nice result for them. I am just very proud.”

Arensman also spoke in Dutch to NOS about the moment Hindley gave him a handshake. “It was super hard, but we can be proud. That is how we agreed it in the bus: don’t get carried away and ride our own pace.”

There was one moment, though, when Arensman appeared to almost throw his chain. “I saw the general classification flashing past already. I wanted to shift onto the big chainring, but the chain came off. Luckily I still had the calm to call Egan and get the chain back on.”

All’s well that ends well. “Of course I am a different type of climber from a Jai or Felix. I can take a huge amount of time in time trials, but uphill it is more about pacing,” he explained. “That Bernal did this for me was very special. In the last few days Egan was also much more emotional than I was: he really wanted me to do well.”

“That makes me feel very proud and humble, when a champion like that sacrifices himself for me, wants to share his experience like that and has my best interests at heart,” said the grateful Arensman.