photo credits @ TotA
Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) won stage 4 of the Tour of the Alps today, after the Dutch rider commenced a long-range attack with 80km remaining to claim a solo victory in Obertilliach.
The Grenadiers were active all day, with Kim Heiduk in a six-man break within the first 10km. Heiduk rode strongly, with the group whittling down to four and racking up a four-minute lead, before being reeled back by the bunch around the 80km mark.
The peloton immediately counterattacked on the descent, before Arensman made his decisive move and attacked solo.
Tackling two categorized climbs on his own, Arensman continued to keep the lead, showing his strength and determination as the weather conditions worsened.
With 20km to go, it looked like Derek Gee (Israel – Premier Tech) was closing in, and GC leader Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) was less than a minute behind, but Arensman had a second wind and continued to power up the final climb of the day.
Reaching the summit with just 6km remaining, Arensman descended with ease, before riding up the final kicker to Obertilliach and taking the win by a minute and 18 seconds.
“The start was super cold, and I was also really cold but I know I go quite well in the cold weather. Straight after the descent, everyone was really cold and Lidl-Trek lit it up and then there was only a small group left. It was quite tactical and I just figured why not, just send it. I went and for a moment I thought it’s actually quite far on my own, but I felt pretty good. I knew everybody was tired from the cold weather. I kept pacing myself and fuelling well. It’s unbelievable,” said Arensman.
“I remember the stage from 2022, together with Romain Bardet and actually also Michael Storer from the GC group and we rode away. Romain took the GC and I took the young rider classification, and now the green jersey. Let’s try to hold it tomorrow. It’s going to be hard but I think everybody will feel the legs after today.”
Earlier, a breakaway of five riders containing Gee escaped the peloton, but it wasn’t long before their foray was brought to an end, prompting Gee to go on the attack, taking Arensman and a couple of other riders along with him.
It wasn’t long before the duo was joined by Koen Bouwman, with Arensman later jettisoning his two breakaway companions, a bold move that proved to endure until the finish.
