Egan Bernal praises Thymen Arensman: "Honor to race with him"

Egan Bernal played an important role for Thymen Arensman in the sixteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia. The 2019 Tour de France winner led for a long time on the final climb to support his Dutch teammate, who now stands third in the general classification. Afterwards, Bernal praised Arensman highly in an interview with Eurosport.

"It was pretty clear what we had to do," Bernal reflects on the finale, where he took the lead for a group of GC contenders behind the escaped Jonas Vingegaard. "It's super hard to follow Jonas, so I think we just had to ride our own pace. And I think Thymen is a really strong rider and he did well."

Bernal and Arensman have gotten to know each other well recently. They rode together at the Tour of the Alps, where they finished second (Bernal) and third (Arensman) respectively. "We raced a lot together. And as I’ve said before: he is an incredible young talent. He definitely has many great years ahead of him. For me, it’s actually an honor to race alongside him."

Arensman deserves a spot on the podium, according to Bernal
Has Bernal gained even more confidence in Arensman’s podium ambitions after his performance in the sixteenth stage? "We’ve always had confidence in that. That's what we work towards day by day, step by step, with both feet on the ground. But of course with great ambition, because I think Thymen deserves to be on the podium."