"Pretty interesting" Giro d'Italia going to plan for Romain Bardet after hard opening week

Team DSM have had a complicated season so far, however it is in the duo of Romain Bardet and Thymen Arensman that the squad is managing to hold it's results, with a performance at the Giro d'Italia that is until now being quite positive for the Dutch team.

After the opening week of the Giro d'Italia, he has managed to get himself up to third place int he GC and is very much within the fight for the race win. "You can see that teams maybe have less control on the race than at the Tour. It's more open, and so far over the nine days the GC classification is still really tight. It's pretty interesting," Bardet told the media, clearly enjoying the type of racing and environment found at the Giro d'Italia - where he finished in seventh place last year.

"The first four stages of this second week are not maybe the most suitable for big change, but still it's the Giro, so you never know. There are some climbs in the final, and with the tension in the bunch... we also have to focus on these stages," he said ahead of stage ten.

A week after Ilan Van Wilder talked about the psychological issues that emerged whilst in the Dutch team, Bardet has renewed his contract and has now talked about the good experience that he has inside Team DSM: "I'm feeling good and performing well. Everything is really good for me here. Since I joined I've made big steps, and again I'm successful on the bike. Off the bike it's a really good environment to live in."

He concluded by complicating Thymen Arensman who has been a crucial piece for him over the last month in the team, who is currently in contention for the overall classification aswell. "Thymen is a super nice guy and I think it's super good that we can both be there in the final. It's a good advantage for us," he pointed out.