After Giro d'Italia, Thymen Aremsman gears up to Tour de France to help INEOS Grenadiers' high GC ambitions

INEOS Grenadiers was one of the strongest and more courageous teams at the Giro d'Italia and a lot of that was using Thymen Arensman as a tactical weapon in the fight for the overall classification. Now, the Dutchman will follow this up with a Tour de France debut.

Looking ahead to the next objectives of INEOS Grenadiers, the team leader in the Criterium du Dauphiné and Tour de France will be Carlos Rodriguez, and the ambition will be the same. Especially after the announcement that the Spaniard will have a luxury teammate for the Grande Boucle: Thymen Arensman.

Speaking to AD, the Dutch rider, who also participated in the Giro, says his coach has included the race in his preparation. "I really want to race, it's about time I did my first Tour de France," Arensman began.

After racing the Vuela a España on five occasions and the Giro d'Italia four times, he will now be gearing up for his Tour debut at age 25. "No, I wouldn't go as a classification rider, but as a wildcard who can sometimes go for his own chance and sometimes can help the leader Carlos Rodriguez".

His aim for the Giro was to fight for a place in the Top5, for a long time a realistic objective alongside Egan Bernal, but ultimately fatigue and bad luck caught up with him in the final week and the Dutchman fell out of contention. Now, he's looking to race without that pressure and to see what is possible.

"A Tour without the stress of the classification is the healthiest option after a Giro like this. In the future, I certainly want to ride a classification in the Tour, but there's no rush. Every year I keep moving forward, getting a little closer to the world elite".