{"id":483005,"date":"2026-02-18T12:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/483005\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T12:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:43:09","slug":"my-strongest-years-are-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/483005\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMy strongest years are coming\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the space of a week, Thymen Arensman<\/a> became a genuine fan favourite. With two stage wins in the Tour de France, the Dutchman from INEOS Grenadiers<\/a> was one of the headline stars of La Grande Boucle. The big question now is: what next? The level-headed rider from Deil knows what he\u2019s capable of \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t automatically answer everything.The Tour de France will always be a career highlight for Arensman, but this season he will once again set his sights on something else, just as he did in 2025. Whether he will even race the Tour is not yet certain. \u201cI\u2019m mainly focusing on the Giro,\u201d he told NOS<\/a>. \u201cThat keeps me busy enough, and then we\u2019ll see. It\u2019s up to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those two stage wins were special, but Arensman\u2019s real passion lies in general classification racing. That means he will go back to targeting the overall in the Giro d\u2019Italia. \u201cI think my strongest years are still to come,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the perfect time to use those years to go for classifications. I hope to ride for another nine or ten years, and in the last few years I can always go stage-hunting like a Bauke or a Wout.\u201d<\/p>\n

In truth, those Tour stage victories also came as something of a surprise. The Dutch climber has never been a serial winner, but he has long been seen as a high-end Grand Tour prospect \u2014 with second place at the 2018 Tour de l\u2019Avenir and three strong top-ten finishes in Grand Tours. \u201cLast year I definitely could have ridden top five \u2014 maybe even for the podium \u2014 if I hadn\u2019t got sick and if I hadn\u2019t crashed,\u201d Arensman reflected.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"thymen-arensman-4\"\/Arensman on Onley and Vauquelin: \u201cWe can only make each other stronger\u201dArensman crashed <\/a>in the sixteenth stage of the Giro d\u2019Italia, when he was ninth overall \u2014 3:45 down on Isaac del Toro and just over two minutes behind eventual winner Simon Yates. This year, he hopes to be in the mix with the very best again, but the Tour de France remains an option too. \u201cI think both are possible. In recent years I\u2019ve always done two Grand Tours,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

With Alpe d\u2019Huez appearing twice in the 2026 Tour route, there is also a very Dutch \u201cdessert\u201d waiting in France. \u201cBut first you have to make it to the start line,\u201d Arensman said. \u201cIt\u2019s an iconic mountain for Dutch cycling. I used to go there with my parents. And I rode it when I was little as well \u2014 it\u2019s an incredibly cool climb. It\u2019s going to be a beautiful stage, whether I\u2019m there or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he does start the Tour, would Arensman be team leader? INEOS Grenadiers appear to have strengthened their hand with the additions of Oscar Onley and K\u00e9vin Vauquelin, but Arensman is not worried. \u201cI think we can only make each other stronger,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the end, cycling is pretty simple \u2014 it\u2019s about the legs. We usually don\u2019t have the absolute top favourite, and that gives us a lot of chances and a lot of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above all, he does not want to load himself with pressure. \u201cLike I said, I don\u2019t take it too heavily,\u201d Arensman concluded. \u201cIt\u2019s just riding a bike. I do what I have to do, and I try to enjoy life and make the best of it. Right now it\u2019s all manageable for me \u2014 but if next year I run into something and I\u2019m no longer enjoying it, then I\u2019d happily stop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the space of a week, Thymen Arensman became a genuine fan favourite. With two stage wins in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,43199,59639,82,139323],"class_list":{"0":"post-483005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-giro-ditalia","12":"tag-ineos-grenadiers","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-thymen-arensman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483005","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=483005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}