Thymen Arensman could hardly believe he had won a tough mountain stage in the Tour de France on Saturday. The Dutchman spoke openly about his struggles on the bike this year, but achieved the most beautiful victory of his career in Luchon-Superbagnères.
In a Pyrenees stage with more than 5,000 meters of altitude difference, Arensman rode very impressively. The climber of INEOS Grenadiers started a solo 35 kilometers from the finish and held his own on the final climb. Even yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar couldn’t catch him.
“This is great. Crazy. I hardly have any words for it,” Arensman said to the NOS immediately after the fourteenth stage. “I have no idea what I’ve done, I need to sleep on that for a night. Now it feels like a dream. Winning a stage in the Tour makes your career. And the way I did it is unbelievable.”
The 25-year-old Arensman is considered the best Dutch classification rider of the moment. He finished twice sixth in the Giro d’Italia and once fifth in the Vuelta a España. Despite those good results, he has also doubted a lot in recent years. He told the NOS in March that he had lost the fun in his sport last season.
On Saturday, luck smiled on Arensman again in the misty Pyrenees. “I knew I had to attack today,” he said. “I happened to say to my teammates before the ride: ‘If you make sure I have a four-minute lead, they won’t get it back.”
On the very tough final climb (12.4 kilometers at 7.3 percent), Arensman defended a three-minute lead over Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. “The last kilometers were extremely tough,” said the Gelderlander. “The Dutch fans gave us something extra. Those people made sure I made it. Thank you for that.”