'Balls to the wall and see what sticks' - Arensman passes first pre-Giro test at Tour of the Alps

Thymen Arensman smiled as he warmed down outside the Ineos Grenadiers team bus atop Val Martello, gratefully clapping his teammates on the shoulder as they arrived after their day at the coalface in the stunning Venosta Valley.

The Dutchman didn’t quite get the result he wanted on stage 2 of the Tour of the Alps, but he still came away with the reassurance he needed. A little over two weeks out from the Giro d’Italia, that’s no small thing.

Arensman was among the most impressive performers on the lone summit finish of the Tour of the Alps, first attacking with intent inside the final 4km and then forming part of the six-man group that contested the finish. He would have to settle for second behind Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in the sprint, but it was a positive outing all the same.

“I wasn’t feeling that good, but I think on such a climb, nobody is really feeling really good,” Arensman told Domestique afterwards. “It’s just balls to the wall, basically, and see what sticks.”

Ineos were to the fore from the run-in to the final climb, with Victor Langellotti serving as Arensman’s guide to the front of the peloton before Peter Øxenberg put in a searing stint of pace-making on his behalf. A little under 4km from the finish, Arensman tested the waters with an acceleration of his own, bringing Michael Storer (Tudor) and Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull) with him.

Pellizzari would later respond in kind, but Arensman found a way back up to him with the help of teammate Egan Bernal, who showed few signs of rustiness here despite the knee injury that had kept him on the sidelines since late February.

“I have to say it was a really pretty easy stage all day, but then it’s, what, a 15-minute climb, so you know it will hurt like hell,” Arensman said. “Peter had amazing legs and he just tore the whole race apart. He actually went a little bit too fast, but I could see everybody was suffering, so I just tried to hold it, and it was not too bad. 

“Egan said on the radio that he was just a few seconds back and then the DS made the call for me to wait. I tried to focus on my own effort and Egan did a really good job of pacing to bring Giulio back so I could go for the sprint. Giulio was a little bit faster, but there are still three more opportunities.”

The climb of Val Martello brings up memories of Nairo Quintana and an indelible day in Giro history, but the conditions and the course were rather more biddable here than they were back in 2014. Although the race traversed the Stelvio National Park on Tuesday, it understandably sidestepped the mighty mountain itself. April racing and that kind of altitude don’t mix. 

It made for an explosive finale that wasn’t necessarily suited to Arensman’s qualities as a diesel, but the 26-year-old will take heart from how his day played out. He has spent time at altitude in the weeks since a crash on the gravel stage limited his GC prospects at Tirreno-Adriatico, and his showing at Val Martello was an encouraging one with the Giro in mind.

“Yeah, for sure, because it’s also a climb that normally doesn’t really suit me,” he said. “I’m a bit more fatigue-resistant and better on longer climbs, but so I can be happy with the performance, especially after a big altitude block where you don’t really train the race intensity. It’s a more controlled environment, so to go flat out here and get a nice result is always positive.”