A 154 kilometre long stage from Primiero to Lana awaited the riders today at the Tour of the Alps. It would be all-action from the start because as soon as the riders left the neutralised zone they were faced with the 20 kilometre long Passo Rolle ascent, where the team looked to shake things up. Rolling attacks with Chris Hamilton, Romain Bardet and Thymen Arensman, it would be Arensman who eventually broke the shackles of the peloton; dragging clear a strong ten rider group.

Riding well together, Arensman’s breakaway extended their lead over the peloton to three minutes and 30 seconds, but with several riders close on GC it ensured a fast pace and chase all day. Going over the Mendelpass and Gampenpass, Arensman forged on alongside three others, distancing the rest of the breakaway as the peloton continued their charge behind. Digging deep, Arensman crested the climb around 25 seconds in arrears of Storer and Sivakov, while back in the bunch Hamilton pushed the pace on to thin out the group further; dropping the race leader.

Coming off of the descent and on the valley roads towards the finish, the front of the race came together with Arensman and Bardet in the lead group of 16 that would fight it out for the stage win. Arensman brought Bardet into the wheel of Bilbao as the flamme rouge approached, before the Frenchman produced a good turn of speed to sprint to a strong second place at the line; the team’s second stage podium in the two days of racing so far.

“It was a very good day,” explained Bardet. “There was a strong breakaway with Thymen and some other guys who were up there on the GC. Thymen was there to control it and try to also go for the stage win. In the peloton we could sit back and protect him a bit out front. The guys looked after me well and in the end I was then able to sprint for second place, so it was a good day for the team.”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston added: “It was a good stage. We had Thymen in the break which was great, as it was a strong breakaway so it was good to have him there. It was a nice situation for us, it kept us in the fight and in the race. The peloton was pulling really hard though so it was always going to be a big ask for it to stay away but Thymen did a really good job. Coming into the final Romain was really well supported by the team and was in a good position and sprinted for second place. It’s nice to get two top three’s so far in the race and we can keep building on this for the last three stages.”