Arensman battles on Blockhaus

A mature ride from Thymen Arensman saw him measure his effort to finished 10th atop Blockhaus to move up to ninth overall at the Giro d’Italia.

Arensman fought to come home in a lead chase group following a decisive attack from stage winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) which saw the Danish rider win solo with small clusters of GC riders following in behind.

Egan Bernal came home 2:57 behind the stage winner, but battled to the line in order to limit losses, finishing with the maglia rosa group.

Earlier, the break had established within just metres of the start line, with several GC teams happy to let a small group go clear on the gruelling 245km test.

A key part of the race for Netcompany INEOS was the run-in to the final climb, Blockhaus, which saw the team come to the fore with Connor Swift, Filippo Ganna and Ben Turner.

They positioned Arensman and Bernal well to take on the climb, with the
duo pacing themselves to ensure they limited losses after Vingegaard's attack in the closing kilometres. 

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DS Leonardo Basso

“We managed pretty well, we told the boys before the stage it was important to be in good position, especially with the long, twisty downhill then the lead into Blockhaus which we did with Ben, with Filippo, with Connor.

"The next job was to manage the wind, because it was super strong after 4km on Blockhaus so it was very important to be well positioned.

“From there, I think Thymen did a very good climb, so the first battle is done, we are in a good position and we stay positive.”