INEOS realizes Arensman and Bernal must go all-in at the Giro: "We believe Egan can be an option"

It is already known that Arensman fell behind (again) on day 1 and lost more than a minute and a half. However, the Dutchman was the second-best performer in the time trial on day 2. Bernal stayed nicely with the favorites on days 1 and 3 but lost quite a lot of time in the time trial, 48 seconds behind Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. As a result, neither of the INEOS riders are in the top 20 after three days.

INEOS is not worried, says sports director Zak Dempster at Cyclingnews. "With Egan and Thymen, it's no secret that Ayuso and Roglič and a few of the other guys are maybe stronger in the TTs, but these guys are three-week specialists. I fully believe Egan will be an option in the third week, the only way to do the best GC possible for us is by moving the race, so hopefully, we've got the legs to do it."

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Bernal already indicated before the Giro d'Italia that he dares to dream and is enjoying cycling more than ever. "We have to find this balance of being realistic but also dreaming," he said. For Dempster, that balance lies not only in the GC but also in chasing stage wins. Joshua Tarling already won the time trial on day 2 for INEOS, but they want more. "Obviously winning stages in this race was one of our objectives, so we've got one, and now we're looking for the next one."

And Arensman? INEOS has a plan for him too. "Obviously, it's a demanding start this and the first day wasn't great for Thymen, but we've been here before and he's done a good GC. We just had to switch the focus onto the TT, and I think he took confidence from yesterday. He beat a lot of the good GC riders and it calmed the whole situation down after the first stage."