"I told him on the radio to take it easy" - Thymen Arensman back to his best with monster turn on stage 6 of 2024 Giro d'Italia

After a disappointingly slow start to the 2024 Giro d'Italia for Thymen Arensman, the INEOS Grenadiers climber was back to his best on stage 6, delivering a monster turn on the front of the peloton to keep Geraint Thomas safe on the gravel.

"The fact that Thymen was in the lead was mainly to prevent attacks. UAE-Team Emirates even lost a few men because of it, so it wasn't a bad moment for us," reflected the INEOS Grenadiers sports director, Zak Dempster in conversation with In de Leiderstrui post-stage. "But I told him on the radio to take it easy, because this was not our race at that moment."

After his disappointing start to the race, Arensman's dad lashed out at the team on X (Twitter) and the Dutchman himself admitted he wasn't ready mentally. "If things aren't going well mentally, it's difficult to have to push your body to the limit," admitted Arensman after time loss on the opening two stages ruled him out of GC contention.

"I already said at the start of the Giro that Thymen has never had a bad third week in a Grand Tour. Now we are on day six and he already feels more like himself. As a team we believe in him and in the process with which we have prepared him," Dempster evaluates. "In the first few days he was clearly not himself, so it was important to put an arm around his shoulder and keep the ship afloat. There are always ups and downs in cycling and it is great to see him again. We support him and we will continue together. Who knows what is possible, I believe he will be good from now on."

"Historically he never feels good at the start of a Grand Tour. But some guys would also like to feel like Thymen in a third week. That is a balance, in which we are looking for solutions," the DS concludes. "Every rider has his strengths and weaknesses and our job as a performance team is to unleash the full potential of a rider. It is clear that he does not feel good when a Grand Tour starts, but we believe that he does have those capabilities. Together we will try to do better at the next Grand Tour."