How did Thymen Arensman react in the INEOS bus after losing 95 seconds? Sports director Dempster explains

Arensman got into trouble on the second climb of the Surrel climb in the local circuit in Tirana and eventually crossed the finish line 1.35 minutes behind winner Mads Pedersen, alongside time trial specialist Joshua Tarling. The damage was not as bad as in Turin last year when the Dutchman lost 137 seconds.

Our question to Dempster was carefully phrased: "Sorry, Zak, but you probably know where I'm going with this."The sports director nodded and came up with a good answer. "Thymen is a strong rider for the third week, and of course, it wasn't the plan to lose time, but tomorrow is another day. And I see it this way: it's less than last year. Not too bad."

Dempster spoke briefly with Arensman in the INEOS Grenadiers bus, who, understandably, headed straight for the 'changing room' after the finish. "Of course, Thymen was disappointed. He wanted to hold on, but he just had to refocus on the time trial and the whole process that goes with it. It's only the first day of the Giro, and there's not much we can do about it now."

"You shouldn't underestimate how difficult the first stage can be," explains Dempster. "You can see how small the leading group is (36 riders, ed.), and Sunday will be another tough ride. Once we're back in Italy, it will be a bit more sprinting and we'll get back into the routine of the Giro. 1 down, 20 to go."

Nevertheless, INEOS must also have discussed Arensman's first-stage syndrome. "Of course, we looked at that, but it would be crazy not to, right? We look at every rider's strengths and weaknesses, aiming to improve as much as possible. We can analyze until we weigh ourselves down and sit in a corner crying, but I repeat: we're just going to refocus on the time trial."

"We have a lot of faith in Thymen, and he has shown many times that he is an incredibly good rider in the third week," concludes Dempster. "When I look at the last week and see how difficult it is, I don't think we need to worry about those 95 seconds right now."

Egan Bernal finished in the first group on behalf of the team. "Egan felt good and finished strongly in that group, perhaps a little smaller than everyone had expected. Lidl-Trek also did a great job, so I must compliment them. That was impressive, especially with the strong riders they have."

In addition to Arensman, Derek Gee, Lorenzo Fortunato, Louis Meintjes, Daniel Felipe Martinez (57 seconds), and Jay Vine (3.59 minutes), who crashed, also lost time. Mikel Landa had to abandon the Giro after a crash.