"These guys are three-week specialists" - INEOS Grenadiers expect Bernal & Arensman to 'move the race' in search of GC success at the 2025 Giro d'Italia

At the 2025 Giro d'Italia, the INEOS Grenadiers have a couple of options for high general classification finish in the form of Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman. Although both have already lost a bit of time in the opening three stages, sports director Zak Dempster is promising his team will attempt to 'move the race' in the coming weeks, in an attempt to gain time back.

"With Egan and Thymen, it's no secret that Juan Ayuso and Primoz Roglic and a few of the other guys are maybe stronger in the TTs, but these guys are three-week specialists," Dempster tells Cycling News, seemingly not too concerned by the early time loss for both the team's general classification hopefuls over the course of the first few stages. "I fully believe Egan will be an option in the third week, the only way to do the best GC possible for us is by moving the race, so hopefully, we've got the legs to do it."

With Bernal a bit unproven in maintaining a three-week GC challenge at a Grand Tour since his nearly career-ending crash, and Arensman still searching for a first top 5 finish at a Grand Tour, both of the INEOS Grenadiers' leaders are racing more in the role of a dark horse than an outright favourite. As Dempster insists though, this can make them dangerous. "We have to find this balance of being realistic but also dreaming," says the sports director.

There has also already been a morale boosting stage win for the team through Joshua Tarling in the stage 2 individual time trial. "Obviously winning stages in this race was one of our objectives," says Dempster, keen to not settle for just the one stage win at this Giro. "We've got one, and now we're looking for the next one."

A morale boost was exactly what Thymen Arensman needed too. After his disappointing time loss on the opening two stages, the Dutchman sounded properly down when speaking to the media post-time trial. "I made it so heavy for myself," admitted the Dutchman in reflection. "And I don't want to say like demons in your head or whatever, but... if you make it so heavy for yourself — like I really wanted to perform this time and I did everything I could for the first day— but you are so nervous and you're fighting yourself, then it's more like a self-fulfilling prophecy, you know? Like, if you keep on thinking about it and you're so nervous, then yeah, then it just happens."

Dempster though, is confident Arensman can bounce back strongly in the coming weeks. "Obviously, it's a demanding start this and the first day wasn't great for Thymen, but we've been here before and he's done a good GC," concludes the sports director concisely. "We just had to switch the focus onto the TT, and I think he took confidence from yesterday. He beat a lot of the good GC riders and it calmed the whole situation down after the first stage."