Did INEOS push the pace to test (sick) GC riders? Vingegaard disagrees

Rumors have been circulating that some riders in the Giro d’Italia peloton were slightly under the weather. While the exact health of many riders is unclear, speculation has been rife. Was this the reason Netcompany INEOS ramped up the pace in stage 11? Jonas Vingegaard weighed in after the stage.

Initially, it was Geraint Thomas who suggested the following on Tuesday: "I had expected a bit more from Jonas. Maybe he was sick or something? Even in the mountain stages—and don’t get me wrong, he won two stages and beat everyone—but it wasn’t quite at the standard he set alongside Pogacar," said the INEOS team leader.

Thomas concluded: “Part of me thinks he’s not 100 percent, but anyway.” Based on those quotes, this site gave Visma team manager Reef the floor, who, with a smile on his face, responded as follows: ‘I think the whole peloton is a bit sniffly after the cold days in the early stages. But it’s nothing serious—just a little cough or a few sneezes. That’s all it is,’ was the conclusion from the Dutch team.

Because according to Reef, his team leader was just fine. Still, there was a nuance after Tuesday’s time trial. “It hurt; he was really completely spent at the finish. It was hard to stay in position for so long. We worked hard at it, but after 15 kilometers, it was really 20 kilometers of just going straight and staying in position. Completely flat, so that hurt.”

Still, it remained to be seen how Vingegaard would fare on the eleventh stage the following day. Especially since the pace was very high during a seemingly endless opening phase, forcing the GC contenders to stay alert for the first 2.5 hours. “It ended up being quite a tough stage. With a profile like this, you can expect that,” Vingegaard reflected in an interview with CyclingPro.

“It took a long time before a breakaway group got away,” the Dane continued. “From that point on, I think all the teams were fine with having a somewhat easier day, if you can put it that way.” One team stood out in particular: Netcompany INEOS. The British squad actually applied some pressure when the breakaway group got away.

Why? “I think they took control so the breakaways wouldn’t gain too much time,” Vingegaard assessed. And not to test whether any GC contenders, who might be a bit under the weather, were vulnerable? “I wouldn’t say they were really testing anyone. If that were the case, the pace would have had to be higher. I think it was just to defend,” he stated firmly.