Thymen Arensman and Bart Lemmen assess damage after crash at 62 km/h: 'The first 2, 3 seconds were scary'

Sunday’s Montreal Grand Prix in Canada was mostly a day of bad luck. Only one Dutch rider managed to finish in the top 25, with Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) in 25th place. Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS) and Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) were involved in a serious crash.

On a long downhill stretch, Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) crashed, leaving the riders behind the American with no chance of avoiding the crash. Arensman and Lemmen were caught up in the pileup, as were Clement Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ) and local hero Derek Gee-West of Lidl-Trek.

Arensman and Lemmen shared their thoughts on Strava afterward. “I sustained quite a few scrapes, but I can’t complain that I didn’t break any bones in a crash at 62 km/h. "Those first 2–3 seconds were scary, especially because you knew you were going to crash hard and there was nothing you could do about it," said Arensman, who shared a photo of his completely wrecked jersey.

Lemmen was also lucky, he said. “I did crash, but I was able to save myself almost entirely 🙏 No cause for concern,” said the Visma | Lease a Bike rider. National team coach Koos Moerenhout will be happy to hear that, too, because in two weeks, Lemmen will be one of the riders on the Dutch World Championship team.

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the GP Montréal after dropping Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) on the final ascent of Mont Royal. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) could not contest the win despite a strong chase to rejoin the leaders before the last climb.

An early nine-man break was controlled and reeled in by the peloton, with several riders abandoning after crashes. In the finale, attacks from Ben Healy and a select group including Ciccone, Seixas, Pidcock, Eulaio, Del Toro, Yates, and McNulty split the race. Seixas led over the final climb’s early ramps, but Del Toro bridged, marked his moves, and proved fastest in the last 800 meters to secure victory. Read more