“This morning I already felt I had no legs” – Arensman disappointed after tough day on Mont Ventoux

Stage 16 of the Tour de France delivered one of the most intense battles of the race so far, with Valentin Paret-Peintre taking the win after a gruelling ascent of Mont Ventoux. For many climbers, it was a rare opportunity to chase glory before the terrain shifts again. Among them was Thymen Arensman, who had hoped to double up after winning stage 14. But the Dutchman ended up frustrated and drained, and he didn't hide his disappointment at the finish.

"This morning I already felt I had no legs, but I saw that a group of about 30 men escaped and, for some reason, there was no one (from his team)," Arensman told NOS.

The INEOS Grenadiers rider still managed to bridge across to the breakaway and even made it into the decisive move up the road with Enric Mas and Julian Alaphilippe. But when Mas accelerated with 14 kilometers remaining, Arensman was immediately in trouble. He eventually finished 12th on the stage, using up energy he hoped to save for the Alps.

"I tried my best to close the gap, and this was the best I could do afterwards. It seemed my teammates' legs were even worse. I tried everything, but when Mas counterattacked me, I knew I could no longer compete for the stage win. Once you already have a stage win, you start to think more about the days ahead and hope you have better legs."

Despite his frustration, Arensman insists he’s not giving up on the chance of another stage victory. His focus now shifts to the final mountain stages.

"Without a doubt, my form is good, I've proven that in the last few days. But today I just didn't have the legs. The fact that I was still able to get this result makes me proud. What went wrong? There is no clear answer. At the end of the day, I'm human. I have good days and bad days. I try to find an explanation, but it is what it is. There are still two very difficult mountain stages to go. I'm in good shape, and if I get my legs back, I'll definitely have a chance."

Enric Mas, who made the decisive move that dropped Arensman, also fell short of the win but remained optimistic about what’s still to come.

"There are good faces in the team, we are happy, we couldn't win but we put everything aside. We have five more chances and we're going to go for it. I tried from the bottom, I was empty with 5 kilometers to go, but we had to play like that, we got into the breakaway of the breakaway as Chente says and, nothing, we just had to enjoy the attempt to win," said Mas.