"My knee really hurts now" - Thymen Arensman loses ground in GC after a fall in stage 16

It was far from a perfect race with many ups and downs, but after two weeks, Thymen Arensman was still balancing on the verge of top-10 in general classification. But a momentary loss of attention from one opponent was enough to remove the Dutchman from prominent positions in the GC.

The INEOS Grenadiers rider hit the deck during the stage, but it was hardly even his fault. "I don't know," Arensman started his story afterwards at Eurosport. "It was a near fall and I think there was a lot of time to brake, but someone didn't brake and hit the back of me."

That's why it wasn't a near fall, but a real fall for the Dutchman. "I landed hard on my knee and I had problems with that the whole stage."

"It is what it is," Arensman continued, who dared to point the finger firmly. "I really don't know what he was doing. That's racing, I guess."

"At the end I couldn't hold back the pain anymore. Now my knee really hurts," he shared the damage. "I tried to keep fighting until the finish and tried to stay close to do work for Egan. But if there's one rider who doesn't really brake, well... It is what it is."

With so many hard stages up ahead, it is now a big question for Arensman and the medical team of INEOS whether the 25-year-old should even continue fighting though the pain or if it wouldn't be better to step back and recover with future races in mind. Stage 17 will make things clearer once again.