'Diesel' Arensman impresses in grueling mountain stage: "But I'm not at all focused on the white jersey"

Arensman positioned himself at the front of the favorites' group on the extremely tough final climb, shaking off many top ten contenders. At one point, only INEOS teammate and leader Geraint Thomas, along with Daniel Felipe Martinez of BORA-hansgrohe, could keep up. After his efforts, Arensman naturally had to let a small gap form (his work for G was done), although he ultimately lost little time and finished ninth. In the rankings, he remained in sixth place, but suddenly came very close to Antonio Tiberi, who is currently leading the battle for the white jersey, but had a bad day today.

"It was indeed a tremendously tough stage, but of course, we knew that beforehand," Arensman told the camera of Cycling Pro Net. "The end of the final climb was especially tough, all the more so because the last few hundred meters were on gravel sections. That was interesting in its own way. For us as INEOS Grenadiers, it was a good day. We knew Tadej was going to be super strong, but I think Geraint and I showed that we are also in good form. It's nice to see that."

Despite the white jersey now almost within reach, Arensman indicated that he wasn't riding with that ranking in mind. "Not at all, actually. I was just thinking about getting to the top as fast as possible, as was Geraint, I believe. Some of the guys were just waiting it out a bit, so I decided to just increase the pace myself. I know Geraint likes that, and so do I." Will Arensman now start racing with the white jersey in mind? Apparently not. "I just want to get from A to B as quickly as possible and that's it. The white jersey is not on my mind at all."