Thymen Arensman enters his 'third week mode' and closes the gap to fifth overall: "I think Geraint and I showed that we are also in good shape"

Tadej Pogacar was unbeatable in the queen stage riding away from his opponents in a lighting speed. However behind the phenomenal Slovenian, an exciting battle unfolded between the other classification riders fighting over the second spot overall. After struggles in the first week, Thymen Arensman was finally in the mix, pushing the pace up for INEOS Grenadiers leader Geraint Thomas.

"It was indeed a very tough stage, but of course we knew that in advance," Arensman explained in front of the Cycling Pro Net camera. "The end of the final climb was especially difficult, especially because the last hundreds of meters were over gravel strips. That was also interesting in some ways. It was a beautiful day for us as INEOS Grenadiers. We knew Tadej was going to be super strong, but I think Geraint and I showed that we are also in good shape. That's nice to see."

Additionally, Arensman significantly reduced his gap to fifth overall Antonio Tiberi, who happens to be the only man standing between Arensman and White jersey for the best U25 rider. Despite the fact that the white jersey is now almost up for grabs, the Dutchman indicates that he was not yet riding around with that ranking in mind.

"Not at all. I just thought about riding up as quickly as possible, I think Geraint did too. Some were looking at each other a bit, so I decided to speed up the pace myself. I know Geraint likes that, and so do I."

Will Arensman be racing with white in mind from now on? No, as it turns out. "I just want to get from A to B as quickly as possible and that's it. The white isn't in my head at all." However it would be a nice reward for his comeback in the third week regardless, wouldn't it?