For Thymen Arensman, the worst part was probably that he saw it coming. "I think that's a bit like asking for trouble," he said ahead of stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, in reference to the late sector of gravel road.
Several hours later, the Dutchman was on the deck on that very same gravel, with his body bruised and his hopes of success in this race up in flames.
Arensman, who's looking to develop into a true GC contender and targeting the Giro d'Italia in May, had made a strong start to Tirreno-Adriatico, placing second in Monday's opening time trial behind only his teammate Filippo Ganna and ahead of all his other GC rivals.
However, the 2025 double stage winner in the Tour's chances of an Italian WorldTour podium finish come Sunday were severely dashed on the stage 2 gravel. Arensman crashed on a gentle right-hand bend on a downhill part of the 5.3km sterrato sector that preceded the uphill 1500-metre haul to the finish.
The surface was made even more treacherous by the rain, and a slippery section on that same bend had almost caught out leaders Isaac Del Toro and Mathieu van der Poel a minute or so previously.
Arensman went on to concede 1:38 to key rival del Toro, who crossed the line just behind the stage winner Van der Poel. He lost 17 seconds fewer to the main cohort of GC riders, but it still represented a major loss.
"I'm relatively okay. I haven't broken anything, but I do have a lot of superficial wounds," Arensman told the Dutch website In Der Liederstrui. "It's disappointing, but the positive thing is that I'm in very good shape and I'm happy with how I feel.”
Ahead of the race, Arensman had already expressed his concerns over the inclusion of the gravel as a single sector so late in the stage.
“I really like gravel, and I would also have liked to ride Strade Bianche, but here it’s only one gravel sector in the finale. And with a few sharp corners in there, I think that’s a bit like asking for trouble," he said.
“For a first road stage, I don’t think that’s ideal. If you’re going to include gravel, then make sure it’s really hard and that bigger differences can be made. Now we’re going to head into it like a bunch of madmen."
