Arensman fourth atop Corno alle Scale

Thymen Arensman rounded off the first week of the Giro d’Italia with a strong climbing performance to finish fourth on stage nine. 

Arensman was first to respond when Jonas Vingegaard (Visma -Lease a Bike) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) went clear of the lead group on the final ascent, measuring his effort to gain time on other GC rivals, before climbing to fourth behind stage winner Vingegaard.

The result moved the Dutch rider up to sixth overall ahead of Monday’s rest day, with Egan Bernal 15th overall after finishing 17th on the stage, 1:12 behind Vingegaard.

Following the intense and lengthy tussles to establish an early breakaway that was a feature of the previous two days, there was an expectation of similar as the riders rolled out of Cervia on the 184km stage.

However, the category one summit finish to Corno alle Scale loomed large and saw teams with GC riders reluctant to commit to the largely flat parcours, with a breakaway featuring riders that were not a threat to the maglia rosa forming early on.

Netcompany INEOS remained safely in the bunch, preserving energy for later. The Grenadiers were attentive when required and came to the fore on the run in to the Querciola climb, to help position Arensman and Egan Bernal for the final part of the stage.

Numbers dwindled in the bunch as the gradient increased on the climb to Corno alle Scale until Gall attacked and went clear with VIngegaard to split the lead group. 

Arensman remained the best placed of the GC riders, setting his own tempo that saw him finish fourth to move up to sixth overall at the end of the first week.