Plugge hails Vingegaard’s historic treble: 'The first rider of this generation'

At the finish, Richard Plugge was waiting for him. The Visma | Lease a Bike team boss wrapped his arms around Vingegaard after another show of strength, one that delivered a fifth stage win and all but confirmed his overall victory.

The final stage in Rome should be a procession. Vingegaard’s lead over Felix Gall is more than five minutes, and after three weeks of racing there is little to suggest anyone can still trouble him. The last real test came on Saturday, and he passed it in the same manner as the others: with control and an acceleration nobody could match.

“It is unbelievable how the team rode again today,” Plugge told Eurosport afterwards. “Everyone is paying the price after three weeks, but Jonas is still the strongest. That is beautiful to see. Another victory. The way he keeps doing it is unbelievable.”

For Visma | Lease a Bike, it is a third Giro d’Italia title, following Denis Menchov in 2009 and Primož Roglič in 2023, and a tenth Grand Tour victory in total. For Vingegaard, it carries an even rarer significance. After winning the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, and the Vuelta a España in 2025, the Giro completes the set.

Only a small group of riders have managed that before him: Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome. Vingegaard now moves into that company, and does so before Tadej Pogačar, the rider with whom every major performance is now inevitably compared.

“We are writing history again,” Plugge said. “With the first rider of this generation to win all three Grand Tours.”

It is another high point in a season that had already been defined by Wout van Aert’s Paris-Roubaix victory. Now Visma | Lease a Bike can add the Giro to that list, with the Tour de France still to come and Vingegaard to be among the favourites again.

Plugge, though, allowed himself a moment to stay with this one.

“We won Paris-Roubaix with Wout, and now the Giro with Jonas,” he said. “He will be a contender again in the Tour, but first we need to let this sink in. We still have one stage to go. I am very proud of this team.”