‘Bigger differences than Blockhaus’ – Arensman, O’Connor, Gee-West reflect on decisive role of 42km Giro d’Italia time trial as hunt for maglia rosa evolves

Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) may have delivered a blistering victory in the 42km time trial on stage 10 at the Giro d’Italia, but a closer look at the results revealed some head-turning performances among the general classification contenders with Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) and Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) all moving closer to the maglia rosa.

The 42km race against the clock followed a flat and fast course along the beaches of the Tuscan coast from Viareggio to Massa, and while it was always meant to be for powerful specialists like Ganna, many believed that it would not be enough to counterbalance all the climbing, 49,150 metres and seven summit finishes, in this year’s race.

Vingegaard is now only 27 seconds back from the top spot; however, he also lost time to three of his biggest rivals. O’Connor finished 11th in the event, nine seconds faster than Vingegaard, and he was quick to point out after he crossed the finish line that the time gaps were in fact, bigger than those on the iconic Blockhaus.

“If you’re on GC, it’s your job to spend time on the TT bike; it kind of kills you when you have a bad ride. You can see how much of a difference it makes against the other guys; bigger differences than Blockhaus. This is why we invest in it and do our best. It made a pretty big difference for some guys,” O’Connor said, after he moved up three places to fifth overall.

He went on to explain why he liked the lengthy time trial, tracing back to his roots in the discipline back home as a development rider.

“It suits me, so I’m not complaining. I don’t mind it. It reminds me of all the time trials I grew up doing back home in ATTA [Australian Time Trial Association], 40km TTs in the Perth countryside, so it’s my bread and butter. It’s what we grew up with. This one hurt a lot.”

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Arensman finished just behind Ganna, giving Netcompany Ineos a 1-2 finish on the day, while the Dutch rider moved up three spots and into third place in the GC. He said the key to his success was pacing himself and listening to his legs.

“I think I can be happy with my performance. I did everything I had to do. I could be happy with today, my performance, and it was super nice to get a 1-2 with the team. It will be nice to celebrate with champagne with Filippo. In general, the whole team did a super good job,” he said.

“I wanted to go as fast as possible from A to B, and I know that I have little routines on TT days, and I tried to stick to them, believe in my focus and that I could get the best out of my own body. In the end, I did. It makes me happy.”

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The rider who gained the most from the time trial was Gee-West, who finished fifth, and moved up six places to eighth overall, and is now 3:34 down on the overall leader Eulálio.

“I’m happy with that. I’m super happy with it. It was a super hard TT, and I didn’t have too much time to think out there, in a straight line. You never know how a TT is going to go until about 10 minutes in. I knew it felt good, but I’m really happy with it. It was super hard, nothing to focus on but how much it hurt,” he said.

“It was a good TT course because you don’t see one like that anymore, but it was brutal. My legs have been getting better with every stage, so that is a good confirmation that they were there on the TT as well. There are tough stages coming up. It’s nice to gain some time in the time trial, but you never know what will happen with the massive mountain stages to come.”

The decisive mountain finishes still to come at this Giro d’Italia, include stage 14, atop the climb in Pila at 1,793 metres, as well as the back-to-back grand finale on stage 19 at Alleghe (Piani di Pezzè) and stage 20 at Piancavallo.

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