INEOS reaping just rewards with Thymen Arensman, as 'diesel' rider shows his explosive side

Thymen Arensman is making a significant impression in the Tour of the Alps. The 26-year-old Dutchman is back at the race where he won a stage and finished second overall last year. But in 2026, he looks a level above last year's form, as his late attack on day one and an impressive summit finish on day two have shown. He has not won yet, but Arensman is showing a different side of himself.

In the opening stage on Monday, he came close. INEOS Grenadiers almost prevented a sprint in a race without any true sprinters. Tommaso Dati of Team UKYO defied the logic by winning as the one semi-sprinter in the pack, but it was a very near thing. Arensman nearly rode away to victory on day one.

The rider normally described as a 'diesel' — one who takes time to warm up and relies on strength over longer climbs rather than short, punchy bursts — showed a completely different side on Monday. A sharp jaw and explosive legs. In the closing moments, INEOS launched a surprise collective effort at the head of the peloton as the race entered Innsbruck, exploiting a small climb in the twisting streets to go all-in.

INEOS shattered the peloton and, with everyone strung out in a line, Arensman crested the hill and continued alone. Two teammates blocked the road behind him, and suddenly he had a useful gap. Knowing that no team in the Tour of the Alps had brought a genuine sprinter, this had every chance of working.

Tudor and Pinarello-Q36.5 chose to chase hard, riding for Florian Stork and Tom Pidcock. In the sprint, both were beaten by Dati. Arensman was, to some degree, the collateral damage of Tudor and Pidcock's team's pursuit — but it did not dampen the mood. After the finish, Arensman looked back with his teammates on what had been a successful plan.

Speaking to IDL Pro Cycling, he was upbeat. "We tried something and it almost worked. I like to ride on instinct and it felt like the right moment. This was good for a first day — the training has clearly been working."

On the second stage the course also did not look tailor-made for Arensman — yet once again he coloured the finale in his orange-and-white INEOS kit. The final climb to Val Martello was five kilometres at an average of 8.9%. "This summit finish was perhaps the worst for me in this race," Arensman concluded afterwards, speaking again to IDL Pro Cycling.

And yet he finished second, behind explosive winner Giulio Pellizzari. "I have to be happy with that. I tried to be smart in the sprint, which ran slightly downhill. I know Giulio is faster and I was on his wheel. I think I did almost everything right, but I don't have a lot of experience in a sprint like that. I was a bit too exposed to the wind — I'll learn from that."

It says a lot that Arensman spoke of a lack of sprint experience, because normally he tends to finish at the back of the front group in exactly these situations. Has he suddenly become more explosive? "I haven't specifically worked on it, but when your base fitness is better, you have more left in the legs at the end to do something like that," he explained.

The legs were not even great on the Val Martello, though. "Not all that good, actually — but I think that's the same for everyone on a punchy finish like that when the pace has been moderate all day. It comes down to who can go deepest into the red. It's only 15 minutes of climbing, which is just too long to call it a punchy climb, but too short to call it a proper endurance climb."

"You just start as fast as possible and then hang on," Arensman smiled. For a moment he had looked like losing the wheel of the more explosive riders, but then teammate Egan Bernal — his own diesel warming up — came through and rode the pair of them up to the leaders. "Over the radio they told me to wait for Egan. That turned out to be the right call, because he rode brilliantly."

Tactically sharp, a strong sprint, and a willingness to gamble on day one: where does this end for Arensman? He has come so close to winning in the two stages that looked least suited to him on paper. "There are still three more chances — we'll go for it."