'Cheeky little bonus sprint' - Ineos capitalise at Red Bull KM as Bernal climbs to 3rd at Giro

Additionally, Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) won the Red Bull KM, giving the Colombian champion six bonus seconds, which moves him to 3rd in the GC behind stage winner and new leader Silva.

The Red Bull KM came shortly after the race resumed following a brief neutralisation from the crash. It was Netcompany-Ineos who took advantage of the bonus seconds on offer, with Bernal picking up the maximum six available, while his teammates Thymen Arensman and Connor Swift hoovered up the remaining seconds. 

Netcompany-Ineos’ Director of Racing Geraint Thomas reflected on the bonus seconds gained by Bernal and the crash that marred the stage. 

“Yeah, good. I think, you know, to just get the cheeky little bonus sprint there, and Thymen [Arensman] got four seconds as well, that was nice,” Thomas told TNT Sports about the Red Bull KM. “But obviously, just marred by that big crash, you know, horrible to see.”

The crash that marred the stage involved around 30 riders, including the majority of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad. 

Marc Soler and Jay Vine were forced to abandon, while Adam Yates’ GC ambitions were ruined. Netcompany-Ineos were one of the teams that were able to come away unscathed from the incident, being on the fortunate side of the road. 

“But for us as a team, we were super lucky, just lucky we were on the right side of the peloton, and our two GC guys were there in the end, so all good,” explained Thomas. 

While Bernal or Arensman weren’t present at the front when Vingegaard accelerated, dragging Pellizzari and Van Eetvelt clear, the duo were present in the chasing group, which returned to the front of the race under the flamme rouge. 

In the end, Arensman ended 19th and Bernal 25th, with the pair moving to 3rd and 4th overall. 

Thomas was asked about Bernal in particular and his form heading into the race. The 2021 Giro champion demonstrated promising signs at the Tour of the Alps, finishing 2nd overall, before taking 5th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Thomas believes there’s more to come, in combination with Arensman.

“Oh, he's [Bernal] a fighter, you know. He certainly didn't have the best run-in, and we were thinking, how was he gonna be,” said Thomas. “But he's just a warrior, and he lives for the big, big races, and we saw him in the Alps, saw him in Liège, he was back to good form, and I think he's still got more to come."

“Alongside Thymen [Arensman], they complement each other well with different strengths, so I think that’s good to play off really. So it’s been a good, solid start,” added Thomas.