Vingegaard not ready to think about Tour de France despite fast Giro start

Defiant showings from Felix Gall on the Blockhaus and again at Corno alle Scale means that the Giro remains notionally a contest as it breaks for its first rest day, but Vingegaard is already 35 seconds clear of the Austrian, and he will expect to increase that buffer significantly in Tuesday’s 42km time trial to Massa.

Just nine stages into the Giro, Gall is the only recognised GC contender within two minutes of Vingegaard. Jai Hindley is now 2:08 behind Vingegaard after conceding another 50 seconds at Corno alle Scale, while his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Giulio Pellizzari is 2:51 down after being distanced early on the ascent.

“I think today we took another minute on Jai Hindley, so obviously that’s good,” Vingegaard told reporters when he took a seat in the press conference truck near the finish line. “The Red Bull duo, they both lost time, so today was a good day. But of course, Felix is showing that he’s very strong.”

Gall’s aggression was perhaps the story of the day, with the Decathlon CMA CGM rider the first to attack from the pink jersey group with 2.5km remaining. Vingegaard was the only rider to follow his acceleration, but he never looked troubled by the pace, and he unleashed an acceleration of his own with a shade under a kilometre to go.

“Decathlon were pulling the whole day, so I was expecting an attack from him,” Vingegaard said. “I was happy that I could follow and then attack him and then take the stage win.”

Vingegaard crossed the line with 12 seconds in hand on Gall, while Davide Piganzoli highlighted the climbing strength of his Visma | Lease a Bike squad by helping himself to a third place at 34 seconds. “I’m really impressed by him and how he’s performing,” Vingegaard said of his young teammate.

Although Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) remains in the maglia rosa for now after an impressive showing here, Vingegaard – now 2:24 down in second – is the de facto race leader. When the Giro resumes on Tuesday, he has an immediate opportunity to move considerably closer to Eulálio and to put the race further behind the reach of Gall, Hindley et al.

Of the recognised GC contenders on this Giro, Vingegaard has the best track record in time trials of this length. On the final weekend of the 2022 Tour de France, his dominance was such that he essentially ceded victory in the 40km time trial to Rocamadour to his teammate Wout van Aert.

“It’s quite a bit different to the one in the Tour in 2022 because that had rolling hills, and the course was up and down, left and right,” Vingegaard said of the stage 10 time trial along the Tuscan coast.

“I think this one on Tuesday is flat with not a lot of corners, but I will do everything I can to do the best possible time.”

At the corresponding point of the 2024 Giro, Vingegaard’s rival Tadej Pogacar was already in pink with a 2:40 advantage over his rivals, and the Slovenian could essentially ride on energy-saver mode for the remaining two weeks, picking and choosing his battles as he managed his resources ahead of the Tour de France.

It remains to be seen if Vingegaard can amass a similar buffer after Tuesday’s time trial, but he downplayed the idea that he could soon begin turning his attention to the second part of his double attempt in July.

“For now, I’m actually just taking it day by day,” Vingegaard said. “Obviously, the next stage is the time trial, and we’ll have to see how I’m doing there and also how the other guys are doing. 

“I’ll do my best and of course, if at one point you have a big, big lead, then maybe you can start thinking about the Tour de France. But at least in my opinion, you still have to focus every day on the Giro d’Italia.”