'We can manage every situation': Visma and Vingegaard adapt to Kelderman loss

Although Jonas Vingegaard avoided the crashes that marred the Giro d’Italia’s opening phase in Bulgaria, his Visma | Lease a Bike team did not emerge unscathed from the experience. Wilco Kelderman was a faller in the mass crash in the finale on Saturday, and although he battled gamely through the following day’s leg to Sofia, he was a non-starter in Catanzaro on stage 4.

Kelderman had made the journey to Italy with his Visma team on Sunday evening more in hope than expectation. Although his abandon was only announced shortly before stage 4, sports director Marc Reef explained that the decision had been taken during the rest day on Monday.

“Yes, the pain was growing, and so Wilco had to decide at a certain moment to stop the race,” Reef told Domestique in Catanzaro on Tuesday.

Kelderman’s abandon removes a treasury of Giro experience from Visma’s squad here. He placed third overall at the race in 2020, and he was part of the team that helped Simon Yates to victory twelve months ago. The Dutchman was also a part of Vingegaard’s guard when he won the Vuelta a España last September.

Reef was confident, however, that Kelderman’s absence would not be too keenly felt in the immediate future, though he conceded that the veteran would have had a key role to play in the high mountains later in the race.

Kelderman’s withdrawal likely means that Sepp Kuss and young Italian talent Davide Piganzoli will carry a heavier burden in the third week of the race.

“It doesn’t change too much for the moment, because we had our plan, and I think we can continue that with the seven riders we still have here.

“Of course, maybe towards week two or three, depending on what the situation is in GC, we might see whether we need to adapt or not, but it’s really difficult to say now. For the moment, with the stages in the upcoming days, we can use the riders that we already had planned to do the work.

“But I also believe that, with the six riders we still have around Jonas, we can manage every situation.”

The climb of Cozzo Tunno on stage 4 seemed to illustrate the point. Movistar’s relentless pace shredded the peloton and put riders including Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) in difficulty, but Vingegaard was tucked in near the front with four Visma teammates for company, including Victor Campenaerts.