Vingegaard dismisses Merckx comparison and plays down jersey concerns ahead of time trial

The Visma Lease a Bike leader won stage 7 on Blockhaus after attacking midway up the final ascent and riding clear of the rest. After the race, he played down the obvious historical parallel that followed his victory: Eddy Merckx also took his first Giro stage win on Blockhaus.

For Vingegaard, the personal milestone mattered more than the comparison. It was his first stage victory at the Giro, and it also meant he has now won stages in all three Grand Tours.

“I’m mainly happy that I now belong to the group of riders who have won stages in all three Grand Tours,” Vingegaard said. “That I can win my first Giro stage here on Blockhaus is also something special, because this climb apparently means a lot to the Giro. That Merckx won his first Giro stage here... I’ll leave that comparison to you. It doesn’t really mean that much to me.”

Behind him, Felix Gall limited the damage best. The Austrian finished second at 13 seconds, a result that kept him in the conversation, even if Vingegaard looked the strongest rider on the climb.

The stage win also gave Vingegaard the blue mountain jersey. Normally, that would simply be a bonus. This time, it has created a small but interesting complication ahead of the stage 10 time trial.

At Visma | Lease a Bike, time trial clothing is not an afterthought. Suits are tested, adjusted and refined with one purpose: saving seconds, especially in a long time trial of more than 40 kilometres. If Vingegaard still leads the mountain classification on Tuesday, he will have to ride in the organiser’s blue jersey rather than Visma’s own time trial suit.

Victor Campenaerts had already been clear about the team’s preference before Blockhaus.

“We want to ride the time trial in the suit where a lot of time and money has been invested,” Campenaerts said to Het Nieuwsblad. “It would be frustrating to have to ride in a suit provided by the organisation.”

Vingegaard, however, was not making a big issue of it. “I’m happy to have the blue jersey,” he said. “The time trial is not tomorrow, and in any case I’m happy to have it for at least one day.”

He also noted that the situation may still change. He leads the mountain classification by just one point over Diego Sevilla, with more points still available before the time trial.

“There are also mountain points tomorrow,” Vingegaard said. “Right now, we’ll have to see whether I ride the time trial in our own suit or in another suit. In any case, I wouldn’t call it a problem to have the jersey in the race.”

For Visma, the question will still matter. The team has spent years building its reputation on preparation, equipment choices and marginal gains. From that perspective, it seems almost impossible that the team would deliberately initiate tactics this weekend that could put Vingegaard in either the pink or the blue jersey ahead of the time trial.