Vingegaard accepts moustache defeat as relaxed Giro mood continues

Asked what had happened to it, Vingegaard smiled and admitted the experiment had come to a quick end.

“I looked myself in the mirror yesterday and I realised I looked like a teenager,” he said to TNT Sports. “So, trying to grow a moustache. It had to go. I’m sorry.”

The Dane was then told he looked “splendid”, despite the absence of both the moustache and a speed suit. Vingegaard again leaned into the joke.

“With the moustache, sometimes you have to accept your defeats, and this is one of my defeats,” he said. “That’s just how life is sometimes. I accept it.”

There was also a practical reason for the more regular race kit. Vingegaard explained that he does not have an unlimited supply of leader’s jerseys, and that he prefers to keep as many as possible from Grand Tours for his collection at home.

“No speed suit today,” he said. “I get it in a limited amount and I always like to have as many jerseys that I rode in in the Grand Tour as possible for the collection at home. So yeah, I also want to have an extra one.”

It was another small reminder of how relaxed Vingegaard has appeared during this Giro. 

Earlier in the race, he joked that his nose strip was part of a plan to disguise himself and sneak into the breakaway, saying: “Nobody can see me now.” 

And after his stage win on Tuesday, he also had the room laughing when asked about his ambitions of matching Tadej Pogačar's six stage wins in 2024.

“Well, I mean, I’m gonna go for all stages this week,” he said at the press conference. “Also in Rome.”

Vingegaard may have lost the moustache, but he still looks comfortable, in control, and very much himself at this Giro.