Thymen Arensman crashed in the same corner where Mathieu van der Poel had already slipped: "I'm relatively okay and haven't broken anything"

Arensman had spoken on Monday about the risks on the approach to San Gimignano. “I really like gravel and I would have loved to ride Strade Bianche as well, but now it’s only one gravel sector in the finale. And with a few sharp corners, which in my opinion is a bit like asking for problems.” That concern proved justified on Tuesday afternoon, when he went down with 3.5 kilometres to go in a corner where Van der Poel also briefly lost traction.

“For a first road stage, in my opinion that’s not ideal. If you do gravel, make sure it’s really hard and that there are bigger differences,” Arensman had added before the stage. He was riding a strong race up to that point, but his crash turned what had looked like another excellent day for INEOS into a damaging one.

Arensman got back on his bike looking visibly frustrated, but he did make it to the finish. He eventually crossed the line in 63rd place, 1:38 down on stage winner Van der Poel. Team-mate Filippo Ganna also endured a difficult afternoon, surrendering the race lead to Isaac del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. That meant that, after INEOS had enjoyed such a strong opening day in the time trial, Tuesday brought a very different outcome.

“I'm relatively okay,” the Dutchman happily reported. “I haven't broken anything, but I do have a lot of superficial wounds. It's disappointing, but the positive thing is that I'm in very good shape and I'm happy with how I feel.”