Giro d’Italia | Geraint Thomas about Arensman’s time loss – “Not ideal, hopefully recovery will follow”

Thomas finished second in the Giro last year after being ridden out of the pink jersey by Primoz Roglic on the final day. This happened during a much-discussed climbing time trial on Monte Lussari. This year the big question is: can Thomas join Tadej Pogacar’s violence?

That remains to be seen. Thomas was in good shape in the first stage to Turin, but not as good as teammate Narváez. He was able to go on the luggage carrier of the lonely Pogacar and placed him on it in the sprint, with the pink jersey as the main prize.

“Team UAE Emirates’ tactics were still incredible and Pogacar was well dispatched, but it was a touch less than earlier this cycling year. On such a first day, things can sometimes turn out differently than expected. They are still strong, I have no illusions.”

“We now have to take a little more control because we have the leader’s jersey,” announces Thomas, who also responds to Arensman’s loss of time. The Dutch hope for the classification lost more than two minutes.

“That is not ideal,” Thomas also thinks. “But it is still a long Giro. There are still twenty stages to ride and a lot of tough rides to come. Sometimes you have days when everyone knows the feeling that things are not going well. Hopefully Thymen will drive better today and then we can continue.”

It was striking that Arensman’s father posted a tweet shortly after the finish of the stage – which was later deleted – in which he expressed his dissatisfaction with his son’s training. Father Arensman said he hopes that this three-week stage race will turn out well for his son, because no trainer can now influence his daily work.

“It’s his father, so it makes sense that you would take your son’s side in an emotional mood,” says Thomas. “But I’m glad my dad doesn’t know how Twitter works.”