"We had to start all over again from 0 kph" - Thymen Arensman manages to finish in the time of winner despite being held up in a crash on final climb of Burgos

The second stage of Vuelta a Burgos was a chaotic one, with many crashes. INEOS Grenadiers leader Thymen Arensman fortunately managed to avoid the massive crash 35 kilometers from the finish, but did end up a bit stuck in the chaos of final kilometer where couple riders collided again. Luckily he was able to quickly jump into the saddle again and still finish at the time of winner.

"It was very hectic, but Omar and Kim did a good job trying to keep me in front," the young Dutchman tells his story via his team’s social media. "That was nice, and my position in the last five kilometers was quite okay. But as everyone could see, there was a crash on the climb, right in the last kilometer. Brandon and I had to brake, and we had to start all over again from 0 kilometers per hour shortly after."

Far from ideal, considering that there were several attacks in the peloton at that moment, with Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan eventually emerging as a winner on the day. Arensman crossed the line in 54th place within the front group. "I was a bit worried that I would lose time, because of the fall and because of that braking manoeuvre. But in the end everything turned out fine," Arensman concludes.

The Dutchman has only just returned to competition after a relatively long break following the Giro d'Italia, where he finished sixth in the general classification. The GC in Burgos is most likely going to be decided with today's double ascent of Lagunas de Neilla.