‘I feel like myself again’ - Vingegaard leaves setbacks behind as Visma targets renewed Pogacar Tour battle

There was little attempt to disguise the scale of Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s ambition when the team unveiled its Tour de France selection at its High Performance Center in Den Bosch.

“We want to win the Tour de France,” lead race coach Marc Reef said during a live preview show hosted by Hannah Walker, with former rider Nathan Van Hooydonck also offering his analysis.

The objective was predictable. With Jonas Vingegaard as leader, anything less would have sounded disingenuous.

Vingegaard will arrive in Barcelona having already completed his collection of Grand Tour victories at the Giro d’Italia. After wins at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya earlier in the season, the Dane’s assured performance in Italy offered the clearest indication yet that he is ready to challenge Tadej Pogačar again in July.

Wout van Aert’s withdrawal following injury removed one of the most versatile riders in the race from Vingegaard’s support structure.

Van Aert has repeatedly performed several roles within the same Tour. He can protect a leader on flat and exposed roads, control breakaways, position the team before decisive climbs and remain alongside the best riders deep into difficult stages. 

He also offers the possibility of stage victories without compromising the team’s overall objective.

That combination cannot simply be recreated by selecting another rider.

“It’s, of course, a big blow that Wout cannot go and it’s also difficult to replace such a rider as Wout,” Reef said.

“In the last couple of years, he has been making such a big difference on many occasions during the Grand Tours that we won. He’s also a personification of the culture that we’re having in the team. And next to that, he’s also a leader in the group and goes always ahead in the battle.”

Van Aert has already returned to riding, but Reef stressed that his recovery would require more time. Rather than wait and hope, Visma made the decision to reshape the squad around the riders who are fully ready.

The result is a team with even greater depth in the mountains.

Piganzoli was not originally preparing to make his Tour de France debut. The 23-year-old Italian received the news only days before the squad announcement, when Reef called to offer him the vacant place.

“Marco called me a few days ago, and was really special,” Piganzoli said. “I have to say that my answer was like, ‘What? I go to the Tour?’ And yeah, it’s amazing.”

His selection may have come unexpectedly, but it was not made on impulse.

Piganzoli was one of Visma’s most valuable riders at the Giro, where he combined his work for Vingegaard with eighth place in the general classification. In the mountains, he was regularly among the final riders alongside his leader, helping Visma control the race before Vingegaard launched his attacks.

He then demonstrated that the Giro had not exhausted him by winning the final stage and overall classification at La Route d’Occitanie. His solo victory in the mountains provided a timely demonstration of both his condition and his ability to perform in France.

“In Occitanie it was a super nice days, especially after the call of Marc,” Piganzoli said. “And yeah, I give everything and is more motivation for the Tour.”

The Italian cannot offer the same qualities as Van Aert. Visma are not asking him to.

Instead, his inclusion strengthens the climbing unit around Vingegaard. Alongside Jorgenson and Kuss, Piganzoli gives the team another rider capable of surviving deep into the Tour’s hardest mountain stages.

Reef believes his performances at the Giro showed that he is ready to complete two Grand Tours in succession.

The call also reflects how quickly Piganzoli has progressed since joining Visma. He began the season as a talented general classification prospect expected to learn within the team’s Grand Tour structure. By July, he will be part of the group charged with winning cycling’s biggest race.

“I’m really proud of what we did in the Giro,” Piganzoli said. “To come back at home and think about how I worked for the Giro and how I worked during the Giro is super special. So it’s extra motivation.”

Vingegaard’s victory at the Giro did more than complete his collection of Grand Tour titles. It restored a level of confidence that had been tested by the setbacks of previous seasons.

“It was definitely a good race for us and giving us some confidence, but also some belief that we can, that we can also win the Tour,” Vingegaard said in a video recorded from Visma’s altitude camp in Tignes.

“I have a lot of belief in myself, and that also gives the other guys belief. And that they really believe in the plan we have and believe that it’s possible to win the Tour de France again.”

Vingegaard last won the Tour in 2023. Since then, crashes and interrupted preparations have repeatedly complicated his path towards July.

He now believes that difficult period is behind him.

“Ever since it’s been a big goal for me. Of course, there’s been, as I said, a lot of setbacks, but that’s something I feel like that’s behind me now.”

“I grew back to being more myself again. It took me some time, but now finally I feel like I’m the same person I was as before all of these setbacks.”

“And I feel like that I’m even further and I’m even a stronger version than I was back then.”

Van Hooydonck, who rode alongside Vingegaard during his Tour victories in 2022 and 2023, recognised the same confidence and composure in the Dane during his recent visit to the training camp.

Reef believes Vingegaard has benefited from taking greater control of his own programme. The decision to target the Giro came from the rider himself, with winning in Italy serving both as a major objective and as preparation for the Tour.

“He’s having the steering wheel of his own career in his hands, and that gave new motivation, a new ambition,” Reef said.

“He won already Paris-Nice, he won Catalunya, and the Giro, and with that vibe we go into the Tour de France.”

The race moves into difficult terrain quickly.

Stage 3 already features a smaller mountain finish, while the peloton will cross the Tourmalet on stage 6. That will be the only major Pyrenean stage of the 2026 edition.

From there, the race moves through several sprint and medium mountain stages before reaching the Alps. Reef expects the largest general classification gaps to emerge late in the race, particularly across the two stages featuring Alpe d’Huez.

“The harder stages or where the biggest difference is going to be made is towards the end,” Reef said.

“On the mountain stages there the biggest difference will be made.”

That assessment helps explain the selection of Piganzoli.

Visma will miss Van Aert’s ability to influence almost every type of stage. By selecting Piganzoli, however, the team has reinforced the area it considers most likely to decide the Tour.

Vingegaard will begin the race with renewed confidence, a recent Grand Tour victory and a squad built almost entirely around his pursuit of yellow.

For Visma, there is no secondary interpretation of success.

They are going to Barcelona to win the Tour de France.