Thymen Arensman shelves Tour de France GC ambitions and had front-row view of yellow jersey crash

UAE Emirates-XRG pushed hard from the start of the day and ramped up the pace even further on the climbs from the very first meters of elevation. “It was tough. I think everyone could see that,” were Arensman’s telling first words, who finished 29th, 16.50 minutes behind stage winner Tadej Pogacar.

“I think it was already full throttle, especially on the Aspin. Even then, I could feel that after the Giro, my body just isn’t good enough for a general classification. So on the Tourmalet, I thought, ‘There’s no chance of a good GC finish anyway,’ and I just rode calmly to the finish,” the Dutchman explained. “I think that makes perfect sense after a previous Grand Tour and a fourth-place finish in the Giro.”

Last year, Arensman claimed two stage wins in the second half of the Tour de France. Will that be the goal? “Yes, who knows. I’m going to do my best, and that’s all I can do,” said the rider from Netcompany INEOS.

Arensman ended up in a small group with yellow jersey wearer Torstein Traeen, who took a hard fall on the descent from the Tourmalet. “I think Traeen was also pushing right to the limit, used his front brake too much, and went over his handlebars. I hope he’s okay. That was a nasty crash. It was also a really tricky descent.”

“We were heading into a hairpin turn at about 90 kilometers per hour. If you suddenly slam on the front brake then, you can go over the handlebars,” Arensman says, shaking his head. “That’s cycling. You can’t dwell on it too much. I think it’s the toughest sport in the world, both physically and mentally. So even if a guy like that goes over the handlebars… well, there’s still a time limit. It’s actually bizarre, but yeah.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]