Arensman fends off 'aliens' Vingegaard and Pogacar for Tour stage win

Thymen Arensman took a second stage win of this year’s Tour de France on Friday, but, instead of winning from the breakaway, he held off the two best riders in the world at La Plagne.

Last week at Hautacam the Dutch rider attacked the breakaway before his solo win, this time he found himself as part of the GC group at the bottom of the day’s final climb. As the road ramped up and others began slipping out of the back, he looked around and thought he’d chance his arm.

His first move came with 14.3km to go, but this move drew the GC riders, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) closing the gap with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) glued to his wheel.

A few hundred metres later Arensman went again, with the same result. Then again. Same. And finally he had another go with 12.9km to go. Pogačar and Vingegaard looked at each other and the gap grew.

“After the descent towards La Plagne we were talking in the radio,” Arensman explained. “Tobias [Foss] was still there with me and tomorrow is another opportunity. I talked to Tobias and Zak the DS on the radio and today is the last mountain stage, I have no GC to ride for but I will try to hang on a few kilometres on the climb see how the legs feel.

“I told Tobias straightway to swing off and tomorrow is your day, I will see what I can do today. And I started the climb and I was quite  in control and I was like, 'I have no GC maybe they will look at each other.'” 

The problem for Arensman was they didn’t look at each other, they kept riding, and his gap never exceeded 37 seconds. That was 7km from the line and from that moment on the GC men began to chip away at the lead, taking second after second off the advantage.

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Oscar Onley (Picnic-Post NL) were with the two chasers now, but when the British rider began to slip back, Lipowitz made a move, seeking to secure his podium place. But Arensman held on, finishing two seconds ahead of Vingegaard.

“I’m absolutely destroyed,” Arensman said “To already win one stage in the Tour is unbelievable from a break, but now against from the GC group, against the strongest riders in the world it feels like I’m dreaming.

“I didn’t take no for an answer. It’s Tadej and Jonas and everybody knows they are the strongest in the world, they are almost aliens, and just as a human I still want to try to beat them. I just can’t believe I beat them today.”

Arensman has had a tough time since joining Ineos Grenadiers in 2023. Brought in as a GC leader for the grand tours he was sixth at that year’s Giro, but failed to finish the Vuelta. Last year was a carbon copy, and despite a greta result at the Tour of the Alps, on the opening day of this year’s Giro he lost 1.35 in the the opening stage, eventually finishing 29th.

“The first two weeks in the Giro was really good for me, but then I got sick in the last week and somebody crashed into me in the third week and my knee was hurting a lot. I got to Rome, but I had better GC hopes, so to then get revenge in the Tour with two stage victories is just crazy.”

On Thursday evening, Ineos confirmed to the Guardian that head carer David Rozman had been sent home from the Tour after he was called for interview by the International Testing Authority (ITA) over allegations regarding his 2012 contact with Dr Mark Schmidt, the doctor later convicted during the Aderlass doping inquiry.

"I don’t know, I’m focused on my job and the things that I have to worry about and that is winning two stages of the Tour de France," Arensman said when he was asked about the matter. "I’m sure the management is on it and I am enjoying my two stage victories, thank you."