"What Pogacar can do, I can do too": "Vingegaard says at Visma | Lease a Bike he wants to ride Giro"

We have never seen Vingegaard in the Giro, which was partly motivated by his Tour success. After his debut in the Vuelta in 2020 - in which he helped Primoz Roglic to overall victory with superb climbing work - he already made his debut in the Tour in 2021. After Roglic dropped out, Vingegaard immediately finished second in the GC, behind Tadej Pogacar.

With its new leader, Visma | Lease a Bike had seen enough and aimed fully on the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023. Vingegaard won overwhelmingly both times. He could have (read: should have) won the 2023 Vuelta, but despite better legs, he let teammate Sep Kuss take the overall victory.

In 2024, the hat trick was supposed to follow in the Tour de France, but a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April threw everything into chaos. Vingegaard broke a collarbone and ribs and suffered a pneumothorax, putting him in the ICU in Spain for two weeks. In the Tour, he miraculously finished second behind Pogacar, with a stage win as well. He did not take part in the Vuelta this time because he was too mentally exhausted for that.

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However, heads are already spinning for 2025, and Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike hope for a year without setbacks. Vingegaard has circled the Giro d'Italia as one of the goals for the new season. "His team will have to analyze over the next few months whether the Giro with Vingegaard fits into their "plan," 'it reads.

Normally, Vingegaard will also do the Tour, as that has been Visma | Lease a Bike's holy grail for years. In 2024, Pogacar proved that the double is once again an option for top-class riders with excess. The Slovenian from UAE-Team Emirates won the Giro and Tour, making him the first with overall wins in both grand tours since Marco Pantani in 1998. What he can do, I can do too, Vingegaard will no doubt think.