Vingegaard sees second Giro stage win as a welcome bonus: 'We didn't want to ride for the stage'

Jonas Vingegaard can head into the rest day in good spirits. The Visma | Lease a Bike team leader was the strongest rider in the ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia, claiming his second stage win of the race.

Before the stage, there had been speculation that Vingegaard would target the win, but he set the record straight in his quick post-race interview. "It's true that I win here because my rival wanted to go for the stage," said Vingegaard, referring to Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM). "We didn't want to ride for the stage win, but we quickly saw that Decathlon had that plan."

"A win is always a beautiful thing — I'm super happy with it," Vingegaard continued with a smile. The mountains classification leader was full of praise for his team, too. Victor Campenaerts, Bart Lemmen, Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli all made strong contributions, with Piganzoli finishing third. "My teammates were great. Once we saw the stage win was within reach, we decided to go all-in on the final climb."

It was Gall who launched the first attack on the final climb. Vingegaard was the only rider who could respond, and sat on the Austrian's wheel for a while. Just into the final kilometre, he made his move — and that proved enough to seal the victory. "Felix put in a very strong attack," said Vingegaard, paying tribute to his challenger. "I was fortunately able to follow, and in the end I had a bit left to win. I'm enormously happy about that."

The interviewer also asked Vingegaard about the eye-catching performance of Piganzoli, who finished third. "He is super strong and I'm super happy for him. He is a special one." All in all, Vingegaard looked back on a successful first week. "We are where we want to be, including in the GC. It's looking good," concluded the man lying second in the overall standings.