Usually unreliable Conti spreads wild rumors about Visma | Lease a Bike, Bernal, and Vingegaard

We don't have any statistics on how often Conti has been right with his predictions and rumors in recent years, but let's just say that he hasn't always been reliable. However, that doesn't mean he just made everything up, so it remains interesting to hear what the Italian has to say.

In the latest episode of Radio Corsa, Visma | Lease a Bike took center stage. That's because the Dutch cycling team still has two spots left in its 2026 selection. With Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani), Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Anton Schiffer (BIKE AID), and Davide Piganzoli (Polti VisitMalta) already signed, there is still room for more.

One of the two remaining positions could be filled by Egan Bernal. Yes, that leader of INEOS Grenadiers, indeed. The 28-year-old Colombian still has a contract with the British million-dollar team, which runs until the end of 2026. With a seventh-place finish in the Giro d'Italia and a stage win in the Vuelta a España, he has shown that he is slowly returning to his old self after his training accident in 2022.

Bernal could get a spot in the climbing core at Visma | Lease a Bike, with Conti emphasizing that the 2026 Giro d'Italia in particular is an important event. After two Tour victories (2022 and 2023) and this year's overall victory in the Vuelta, Vingegaard would like to go to the Giro, and Bernal would have to support him in that.

Bernal has been linked to Visma in the past, incidentally. The chance of this happening this winter seems unlikely in many respects. First of all, the climber still has a one-year contract with INEOS. In addition, Bernal himself said at AS: “I have a contract with a team that has given me so much and supported me throughout my career. I am happy here.”

However, Bernal added: “My contract runs until the end of 2026, so from that point on, we can look at the various options.” Visma | Lease a Bike could also be a worthy destination. “Jonas is one of the strongest riders in history, a rider you would love to ride with in a team. He is a good person; I appreciate his character as a person.”

If Vingegaard wants to win the Giro d'Italia in 2026, he will have to come from a good place. According to Conti, Tadej Pogacar, who won the Giro in 2024, would also like to return to the Tour of Italy. After that, both leaders will essentially have the Tour de France on their schedule. Normally, schedules are often not made official until November or December, so we can only wait and see.

This brings us to Conti's final point, which was about Vingegaard's future at Visma | Lease a Bike. The 28-year-old Dane still has a contract until the end of 2028, but if he completes the Giro-Tour-Vuelta trilogy at Visma, a move to the Danish Uno-X team could be on the cards. That is where he would like to end his career.