Netcompany Ineos came into this year's Giro d'Italia with two co-leaders in the shape of former winner Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman, but it looks as though the road has already decided their primary leader after the first nine days.
Following an early struggle on stage 4 in Cosenza, Bernal has shed major time on both summit finishes of Blockhaus and Corno alle Scale so far, leaving him in 15th, 6:49 off the race lead.
Arensman, meanwhile, looks to be improving as the race progresses, with his fourth place on Sunday's summit finish seeing him move up to sixth overall, five minutes off maglia rosa Afonso Eulálio.
Speaking on the Giro d'Italia's second rest day, Arensman – twice a sixth-place finisher in the past – said that the race is going "pretty well" so far.
"I think everything is under control and we’ve had some really nice stages with the boys. We're having fun and just trying to do the right things every day and I think that's really helping me," he said.
"Of course, there’s stress at times, but we try not to stress too much, crack some jokes with the guys, keep it light. And we just go try to go as fast as possible from A to B on every stage."
"If I’m honest, I was hoping for a little bit of a harder run in," he said of the Blockhaus stage. "It was after six hours, so you're not fresh at the bottom, but everybody was still quite fresh, and I was hoping for a little bit more fatigue.
"I'm proud of my performance still. I still went as hard as I could. It’s racing, and it’s good."
Arensman and Bernal officially remain as Netcompany Ineos co-leaders as the race heads into the stage 10 time trial for a week ending in another challenging mountain stage to Pila.
It remains to be seen how that shakes out with the coming tests, though Arensman looks the most likely to challenge at the top of the GC. He said that having Giro and Tour champion Bernal by his side has been a great help.
"To share the leadership with him is really nice. He’s a Giro winner, so he's a really big rider. I also still learn from him, like, fighting for the top spots in the GC," he said.
"He’s just a proper warrior in the bunch and on the bike and super chilled off the bike. He knows where to switch on and switch off, and I think this is super important in a Grand Tour.
"He has this experience, and I can like steal some of that almost, draw on his experience. Just I see what he's doing and try to take what he does, like the same as I did with G at last year’s Giro. I give it my own twist, and see what works for me."
The pan-flat 42km time trial between Viareggio and Massa is the next test of the Giro. It's a stage where strong time triallist Arensman will aim to put some time between those riders around him in the standings – behind him, Mathys Rondel and Ben O'Connor, and in front of him, Jai Hindley and Cristian Scaroni.
"I think you're never really looking forward to a time trial because you know it's going hurt like hell!" Arensman said. "So, I just try not to think about it today, switch off and have a nice coffee stop.
"Then tomorrow morning I just try to do my normal routine as I always do and then really set the best time possible. I think it's quite simple. If I can do this whole process just right, then it's something you can look forward to, but if people really stress about the time trial, then it's not something you really look forward to.
"But I just think it’s pretty cool to do a TT at the Giro, right? That keeps it enjoyable, I think."
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