Vingegaard downplays Pogacar's influence on Giro bid

Vingegaard lines up as the favourite for this year’s Giro after adding the Vuelta a España last September to his two Tour de France victories. Pogačar has won the Giro and four Tours, while he placed third overall in his lone Vuelta appearance as a neo-pro in 2019.

“No. Achieving this treble is a goal for me, and that’s it,” Vingegaard told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “It means making history. He’ll get there too; it’s just a matter of time. Tadej is perhaps the best of all-time. But I’ve already beaten him, and I believe I can do it again.”

Vingegaard will test that hypothesis at the Tour in July, but he first faces the challenge of his first appearance at the Giro, where he will be backed by a Visma | Lease a Bike team that includes Sepp Kuss and Victor Campenaerts. 

“I think it’s more unpredictable,” Vingegaard said when asked to compare the Giro to the Tour and Vuelta. “We’ll have to be ready every day, because surprises can crop up anywhere, more so than anywhere else.”

João Almeida was expected to be Vingegaard’s chief rival at the Giro, but the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider misses out after a spring beset by illness. In Almeida’s absence, Vingegaard listed Giulio Pellizzari, Felix Gall, Ben O’Connor, Egan Bernal and Adam Yates among his main challengers. “I’ll need to be at my very best to win,” said Vingegaard.

Visma endured a setback before the season began with the sudden retirement of teammate and reigning Giro champion Simon Yates, and Vingegaard revealed that he had not heard from the Briton since.

“His decision surprised me too,” Vingegaard said. “But in any case, he had a great career, and if he felt the time had come to step away, then he did the right thing. I have a lot of respect for his decision.”

In the interview with La Gazzetta, Vingegaard also revisited his pre-season training crash, when he fell after a fan had reportedly followed him on a descent near Malaga. The incident prompted Visma to call for fans to give their riders space while training, and Vingegaard said he had not experienced a similar situation since.

“Taking photos is fine, it’s not a problem,” he said. “But following a professional closely for a long time while they’re training isn’t ideal. For me, for us, it’s a job. I don’t go into someone’s office and sit right next to them while they’re working... You need to find a balance.”