Thymen Arensman thanks Bernal after holding fourth place: "We delivered a great performance"

Thymen Arensman could no longer challenge Jai Hindley for the podium spot on Saturday, but he did manage to defend his fourth place in the general classification thanks to Egan Bernal, who stayed with him throughout the climb. After the stage, the Dutchman extensively thanked his teammate.

"Egan won the battle for the MVP title today," Arensman said gratefully to Eurosport. "I am just incredibly proud of the guys and I feel very proud and honored to ride for this team and to give something back with a great result for all their efforts."

Arensman then pointed out that the plan was executed perfectly. "I think Egan and I both delivered a top performance and paced the climb to perfection. Like yesterday, I knew I had to ride my own rhythm a bit more on these steep climbs."

"On the slightly less steep final section, we were then able to make the difference together. It’s of course fantastic when a plan turns out this well in the end," he concluded.