{"id":371018,"date":"2025-12-27T00:05:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T00:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/371018\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T00:05:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T00:05:04","slug":"thymen-arensman-finds-his-way-back-by-rediscovering-joy-in-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/371018\/","title":{"rendered":"Thymen Arensman finds his way back by rediscovering joy in cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

He admited that pressure came mostly from within. \u201cI tried to push myself, because you think that makes you better and that it\u2019s good for you. For me it\u2019s also a personality thing. I\u2019ve always had it in me to do just a bit more than what was on my training schedule, but in 2024 it became really extreme. At some point you have to hit your head to be able to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning from Tom DumoulinA crucial turning point came through conversations with Tom Dumoulin<\/a>, whom Arensman spoke to earlier this year about the mental side of the sport. Dumoulin has always been incredibly open about his mental health struggles<\/a>.\u201cI got a lot out of that meeting with Tom,\u201d Arensman said. \u201cYou obviously heard everything in the podcast, but in our conversations without microphones Tom shared a lot as well. And he wants to keep sharing things, I can always call him. I did that during the Volta ao Algarve<\/a> when things started going a bit worse again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both riders have gone through very similar situations, which help them to better understand each other. \u201cTom and I have basically been through the same things. Tom also says: everyone is constantly trying to prove themselves and bring the next marginal gain to the market, but you can completely lose yourself in it. Try to be a bit happier, that will also make you ride faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

That philosophy has shaped Arensman\u2019s 2025 approach, including changes in training intensity. \u201cIn January it was honestly really relaxed at the altitude camp in Tenerife. I think I got dropped almost every day on the final climb, and it really didn\u2019t bother me if someone rode away faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally that would always stress me out, especially if I saw my power numbers were lower than they should be. Now I trust that it will come in races, that I\u2019ll be able to produce those extra 50 or 100 watts when it really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThymenArensman<\/p>\n

Arensman won stage 19 of the Tour de France<\/p>\n

No need for a nutritionist<\/p>\n

Arensman has also simplified his approach to nutrition, in his case doing the opposite of what professional riders usually do nowadays. \u201cSince the start of 2025 I no longer work with a nutritionist. Maybe with a nutritionist you follow the ideal plan, but for me it didn\u2019t work. I just eat what I want and listen to my body. I\u2019ve learned enough about nutrition over the past years to have a basic understanding. It\u2019s really not rocket science.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how many carbohydrates per hour you need, and it\u2019s also obvious that you should eat less on a rest day than on a day when you train for six hours. It\u2019s just logical thinking and listening to how I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some small changes have actually brought him peace of mind. \u201cIf I feel like having a piece of chocolate: fine. These days I\u2019ll choose dark chocolate instead of milk. In the past I would have skipped it altogether. But consciously not eating it ended up costing me almost more energy than if I had just put that piece of chocolate in my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He admited that pressure came mostly from within. \u201cI tried to push myself, because you think that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82,1422,139323,109873,636,158731],"class_list":["post-371018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-thymen-arensman","tag-tom-dumoulin","tag-tour-de-france","tag-volta-ao-algarve"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}