And suddenly Arensman is once again a key player in INEOS' Giro plans: "The rest can try to follow him"

Rome wasn't built in a day. It's not for nothing that that is such a popular saying. Thymen Arensman is a slow-starter, but has now kicked into fourth gear at INEOS Grenadiers. Will he shift into fifth in the second and third weeks, allowing him to still play a crucial role in the Giro d'Italia standings? His team has all the confidence in the world.

Arensman had a dramatic start to the Tour of Italy, as he immediately lost minutes in the opening weekend. The 24-year-old Dutchman was clearly mentally down, but struck back with an excellent performance on day six in the Giro's gravel stage. He followed that up with a solid time trial on day seven and a finish among the best in an uphill finale on day eight. Suddenly, he entered the first rest day in ninth place in the GC, admittedly 5.30 minutes behind leader Tadej Pogacar, but only 2.50 minutes behind second-place Daniel Felipe Martínez.

"We never had doubts about Thymen, he is a true grand tour rider," team leader Zak Dempster emphasized when talking to IDLProCycling.com. "He has never had a bad third week and we are confident that he will have a good third week here too. He is one of the better GC guys here, although he is a bit further away. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do in the next two weeks. The rest can try to follow him."

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Thomas drops back, Arensman on the rise

With Geraint Thomas in third place in the standings, 2.58 minutes behind Pogacar, INEOS has two important cards to play in the battle for the podium. "Thymen has always been a rider under protection, that has never changed. He has never lost twenty minutes, so he is still in the game. With that, we indeed have two cards to play, a tactical advantage. We came here to achieve results and Thymen is ready to do that."

The fact that Thomas stated before the Giro that he was going all out for the pink doesn't change much. "We would of course prefer to be in pink, but we are racing against a beast. Anyway, Thymen is happy again. Of course, he was disappointed, but we put an arm around him and he has good friends on the bus. We kept our confidence in him and now he's back. And even if he hadn't come back, we still support him. This is cycling, after all."

Thomas' weaker time trial on day seven even means that the Welshman and Arensman are now only two and a half minutes apart in the GC. Could the roles even reverse over time? "G had hoped for more from the time trial, but the next day he was there again right away. These things happen," Dempster nuances, adding that he witnessed an excellent INEOS in the first week. "We rode a day in pink due to a stage win by Jhonatan (Narváez, ed.) and were well positioned all week with G, so we can be satisfied. Especially our way of racing, where the guys always stuck to the plan and rode with their hearts, made for a good week. We could have gotten more out of it, but in the future we will have to seize our chances."