"Losing to a Giro d’Italia winner isn’t exactly a disaster" - Thymen Arensman pushes Simon Yates all the way in thrilling stage 10 finale at 2025 Tour de France

It's been a pretty disappointing Tour de France for the INEOS Grenadiers so far, but on stage 10 Thymen Arensman came alive. Despite a heroic effort on the final climb however, the Dutchman fell just short of a stage win that went to Simon Yates.

“Simon was really clever through the corners,” Arensman reflected in a post-stage interview with NOS immediately after crossing the finish line. “I nearly crashed in one of them, so I had to let him go. I didn’t want to lock up or cramp. He played it very smartly…”

When Yates made his move at the bottom of the final climb, it looked for all the world like the Brit would sail to victory. Arensman though, slowly but surely paced himself back until there was barely 5 seconds separating the pair inside the final kilometre. Unable to make that one last kick and get on the wheel though, Arensman ultimately had to settle for second place.

“I was so close, and I had the legs. But it was either push and crash in that corner, or play it safer. Losing to a Giro d’Italia winner isn’t exactly a disaster. I just didn’t take the corners well," he assesses. “It’s a shame — but Simon was also really strong. He rode intelligently all day, and he had the support of his team. Chapeau.”

“These were climbs of ten to fifteen minutes — still quite punchy. The high mountains should suit me even better," Arensman concludes with renewed optimism. “I burned a lot of energy helping control the group, so the fact I could still finish like that gives me confidence. Aside from those few corners, I think I did everything right.”

As mentioned, this hasn't been a great Tour for INEOS so far, so the British team will now be hoping this is the start of a turnaround in their fortunes.