Visma-Lease a Bike on alert for a disastrous scenario at Giro: ‘We’ll do our best to avoid that’

Team director Jesper Mørkøv — speaking to Danish outlet Feltet — made it clear that even if Vingegaard is among the pre-race favourites, nothing is guaranteed in a Grand Tour. “One of the things I’ve learned during a Grand Tour is how many pitfalls there are where things can go wrong,” he said.

Vingegaard has been considering riding the Giro since early 2025, and late last year he officially committed to the challenge. “I hope we can win with Jonas,” Mørkøv continued. “It could be very special, but there’s still a long way from starting to winning.”

The Danish rider, a two-time Tour de France champion (2022 and 2023), has had mixed fortunes in recent seasons. After back-to-back battles with Tadej Pogačar in France, Vingegaard scored his first Vuelta a España win in 2025 — leaving only the Giro to complete a trio of Grand Tour victories. But last year’s Spanish race exposed vulnerabilities for the Dane and his team.

From the start in Italy, Vingegaard seemed to be by far the strongest, but later in the high mountains he had a harder time. You don't just win a Grand Tour like that. “We saw that in the Vuelta too, where Jonas and I really had to fight for three weeks,” says Mørkøv. “On the one hand because he got sick along the way, and on the other because we also had enormous challenges with UAE and Almeida.”

The latter could prove to be a nasty obstacle. Vingegaard fell ill in the final week of the Vuelta, but that was in the heat of Spain. In Italy, it is often a lot cooler in May, especially in the mountains. The question is whether the Dane can cope with the cold of the Dolomites or the Alps, but his team manager is confident.

“Visma-Lease a Bike will prepare our Danish leader well for worst-case scenarios,” Mørkøv said. “I’m convinced that we as a team, and Jonas himself, will begin the Giro very well prepared, and I’m also sure that we can keep him sharp. Of course, illness can occur, but we’ll do our best to exclude that, and I think it will go well.”