INEOS Grenadiers must rely on collective in Giro: “Important role for Arensman”

Interview Wanted: a challenger for Tadej Pogacar in the upcoming Giro d’Italia. At INEOS Grenadiers they want to tackle the Slovenian top favorite with a strong collective. Even though the British formation can no longer present the assets it did about five years ago, the team still remains ambitious. After the Tour of the Alps, we visited Australian sports director Zak Dempster, who will also guide the team including Geraint Thomas, Thymen Arensman, Filippo Ganna and Tobias Foss in the Giro d’Italia.

“G (nickname of Geraint Thomas, ed.) does the Giro for a reason, right,” Dempster explains. “For him, the Giro is still ‘unfinished business’ after last year’s narrow defeat against Primoz Roglic. With Pogacar at the start this time, it will of course be a complicated matter to win the case. As we all know, there are no gifts given in the Grand Tours. Usually you just get what you deserve. All we can do is make sure we are ready for whatever might happen.”

Yet it must have been a bolt from the blue for the leaders of the British team when they learned that the most complete rider in the world would also focus on La Maglia Rosa. “Well, I only see that as a good thing. Pogacar is one of the big boys in lap work within our sport, just like Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. If you can compete against those men, the very best of their generation, then that is a very inspiring challenge. Last year we were close to overpowering Roglic. We should not be afraid of that or step away from our ambitions. It is important to be realistic and develop a good strategy.”

What should that strategy look like? “It is of course difficult to go through all those scenarios now. We are not busy thinking about what Pogacar can do. I will put it another way: we are not going to take a conservative course. We must be ready to be aggressive when we can, with our collective. It is important to be ready and to take advantage if we see a weakness in him. Although I don’t see many weaknesses for the time being (laughs).”

The Arensman plan
At INEOS Grenadiers it is betting on multiple horses. The experienced Geraint Thomas does not necessarily enforce sole leadership, and that appears to be a conscious choice. “Last year we also had Laurens (De Plus, ed.) and Thymen (Arensman, ed.) in the top 10, a situation that we could sometimes play with. Not only in tactical jousting, but also simply in support of the leaders. I still remember how in the past Daniel Martin sometimes had to compete against the big blocks at Quick-Step as the only climber, while these guys actually thrive in a strong team. The more leaders, the better.”

Dempster previously said about Thomas that he could gain confidence from the Tour of the Alps. But INEOS Grenadiers has appointed a specific second leader, one from the Netherlands. “We sent Thymen to the Giro through a different preparation. Very consciously. His great strength is always the third week, but if you look at the start of the Giro, it is important to be up to standard right away in a quite intense first week. That’s why we thought Romandie, which is closer to the Girostart, would be a better preparation for him.”

“Thymen has of course already been sixth in a Grand Tour twice, he already won the queen stage in the Vuelta. We have a lot of confidence in him as a Grand Tour rider within the team. He is a calm guy, talented, but not averse to hard work. These are all the ingredients that a good tour rider has. Our plan is to keep him in the rankings and see how he can unleash his talent in the third week. His victory over Sierra Nevada seems far away, but Thymen is still very young. It is important to improve every race. Then maybe he can one day become a podium candidate. Or even more. We want to give him a platform to develop, improve his strengths and bring him to his goals in maximum form.”

Team in development
Despite the fact that the two leaders have a chance of reaching the podium, INEOS Grenadiers seems to be missing a top champion at the moment. It is no coincidence that the team has not won a major tour since the 2021 Giro (then with Egan Bernal). “Owner Jim Radcliffe has already said that clearly. Every team wants to discover and retain those super talents. We want to become the best talent factory there is. That is the focus in our team and a responsibility in my job, the other team leaders and the coaches.”

“Finding someone and helping them discover their potential should be our main goal. The fact that, for example, we let someone like Tobias Foss win his first road race on his ninth day with the team, giving him that foundation and confidence, that’s cool. It is our ambition to one day win the Tour with one of those young riders.”

Is INEOS Grenadiers a team in transition? Of the old guard that – with Chris Froome in the lead – dominated an era from 2012 to 2019, Thomas is one of the last one standing. “We still have guys like G and Swifty (Ben Swift, ed.) on the team bus. They are important to keep on board, because in terms of culture – the form of British Cycling that we do – they still have a major impact on the team. On the other hand, there is that ambition with the young talent. It is the reality of sport that generations are overtaken and things change, but we have the right experience. I hope that in the Giro we can once again show that we are on the right track to realizing our ambitions.”