No World Championships, but alternative trip for outspoken Arensman: "Otherwise hard to keep it up for many years"

Thymen Arensman started the Vuelta a España with great expectations but came home disappointed after less than two weeks. The Spanish heat and the coronavirus messed up his plans, making him feel bad. IDLProCycling.com spoke to him at length after the European Time Trial Championships, where he finished fifth.

Arensman did not start in the 11th stage of the Vuelta a España. The coronavirus may be nothing more than a little virus for the "ordinary citizen," but for top athletes, it involves such proportions that it can immediately make a big dent in their top form. The INEOS Grenadiers rider can talk about it, which he did after the European Championships.

"I didn't feel so good, but I expected that," he said afterward in Hasselt. "I was pretty sick when I left the Vuelta with Corona. It didn't feel great, but the result is okay. It was a pleasant experience; I last went with the KNWU in 2018 or 2019. And this way, I also had a small goal after the Vuelta because then I was sad and negative. That did hurt."

"I can be honest about that; it was difficult," he continued. "I had more than a week of symptoms and not being able to ride a bike, so it was a bit pathetic in my apartment in Andorra. I had prepared the Vuelta so well, but then you get a virus like that. Then you're depressed for a while, and it's hard to switch gears. After that, I visited the Netherlands to meet friends, family, and my girlfriend."

It was a small drive from the Netherlands to Hasselt, where he thus had to start with recently corona-affected lungs. "It can go well, but it can also go wrong. It feels pretty well now, but that feeling in the lungs is not fun. You won't do VO2-max or time trial-specific workouts if you have a virus. I may have done a time trial session, but that was the threshold. So this was kind of a shock to the system, but fortunately, it was a pretty long trial. So I didn't have to go too deep."

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Arensman gives insight into head of top athlete going for GC in grand tour

Being at the start without pressure was something Arensman had not experienced in a long time. "I was very relaxed. I wasn't a favorite and had nothing to lose, so it was a fun experience. Whether it was third or last, it didn't matter where I would finish. It was mainly a fun experience, which I had asked for myself. Koos Moerenhout always asks if I'm available, but combining it with a classification in big tours is hard. The plan was to finish the Vuelta a España and move on, but that turned out differently."

When asked, Arensman gives us a glimpse into the mind of a top sportsman like him. "People sometimes ask why I don't compete anymore, but the level is so high. Towards the Giro, it's just preparing to compete for the GC, but as soon as you arrive in Rome, you will already be busy with the Vuelta. Every day, you are trying to lose 100 grams of weight, training, oxygen deprivation, eating, at altitude.... constantly. Just to get in top shape, you have to be 100 percent engaged in it daily."

"Then, once you start in the Vuelta, but you quickly find out that there is a virus in your body," he takes us back to Spain. "So then you spend 2.5 months of your life training hard, and then you immediately feel it's not right.... maybe then people understand how bad it can be, but then again, it's a matter of turning that switch."

That switch flipped before and after the Tour of Italy. "I learned a lot of lessons from the Giro, including blood values and such. I worked too hard, too focused, and tried to be too light, so after the Giro, I lost the fun a bit. I wasn't thrilled. When you're always on the limit, physically and mentally, it's hard to keep it up for many years."

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No World Championships in Zurich, but trip from Andorra to the Netherlands for Arensman

Arensman will tackle the next few weeks in an alternative way—something he needs. "I'm going to Andorra, and from there, I'll cycle back to the Netherlands with my girlfriend's brother. I'm looking forward to that. Just with a big bag on the bike, without knowing exactly where we will sleep. It is exciting, cycling on new roads all over France, meeting people... the romance of the sport, I really like that," says the enthusiast in him.

Laurens ten Dam-style, then? "Two big bags on the bike with as much stuff as possible. We booked one overnight stay, located just outside the Pyrenees. The second night's stay is with Romain Bardet, a good friend. The finishing point is at my in-laws' house in Limburg, so in between, we have the idea of just knocking on people's doors for overnight stays."

"If it works out, I hope I can fit it into training with the team as well," said the Dutchman from INEOS Grenadiers. "Because of this, I won't ride the World Championships either, but after that, I'll do the Italian classics. The Tour of Lombardy I might do, but I will take a look where I will compete next," Arensman said of the final weeks of his season.