"I was so obsessive about food" - Thymen Arensman happy to see cycling's attitude towards eating shift

Well into his 5th full season at the World Tour level in 2025, Thymen Arensman has proven himself as an important part of the INEOS Grenadiers mountain train in the Grand Tours over the last few years. Behind the scenes though, the Dutchman has been involved in an ongoing battle with food amidst a shift in the sport of cycling's attitude towards a rider's eating habits.

“I came up as a young rider in a time when being as lean as possible was glorified. It was encouraged to go out and train for six hours without eating anything," recalls the 25-year-old former Vuelta a Espana stage winner in quotes to Helden Magazine. "Completely unhealthy, of course, but as a young rider I was impressionable — especially when the older generation I looked up to preached that approach.”

“I joined INEOS and became teammates with riders like Geraint Thomas. When experienced guys like that were into low-carb diets, you naturally wanted to follow their lead," he continues. "Luckily, that mindset is really changing now. And that’s also why we’re riding much harder these days — we're finally giving our bodies the energy they need to perform at the highest level.”

As touched upon by Arensman there, attitudes are changing, and in the opinion of the Dutchman, the changes are being made for the better too as riders are encouraged to eat more and take on more calories. “Stepping out of your comfort zone is always scary. Especially because I was so obsessive about food. I was thinking: I’m going to start eating a lot more — won’t I gain a bunch of weight?” Arensman says of his initial concerns. “But the principle is actually pretty logical."

"You eat less on rest days because you need less, and you eat a lot on days when you burn a lot," he adds in conclusion. "But that’s the complete opposite of what we used to do — training on an empty stomach, almost deliberately pushing yourself into the red. It went totally against the signals your body was trying to give you.”

Although it didn't ultimately result in a successful Giro d'Italia for Arensman in 2025, the hope now is that the INEOS Grenadiers star will be able to take the next step sooner rather than later.