Vingegaard on his Giro dominance: ‘I take it day by day’

Jonas Vingegaard and Visma – Lease a Bike delivered a full-blown show of force on Tuesday’s stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia. The team controlled the race from the opening kilometres before the Dane sealed yet another dominant mountain victory. Vingegaard absolutely demolished his rivals in another huge statement. Osgoode, Ont.’s Derek Gee-West also had a fine day, finishing fifth and climbing up the GC to sixth.

Wearing the pink jersey, Vingegaard said the team had targeted the stage from the start, eager to take a win while leading the overall classification.

“My teammates and I were really motivated. We wanted to win a stage in the pink jersey,” Vingegaard said to Feltet.dk. “It can always go wrong, so we decided to take the first opportunity.”

Visma set a brutal, brutal pace all day. Not only did it tenderize the rivals’ legs, but it also kept the breakaway within reach before tearing the peloton apart on the final climb. By the time Vingegaard launched his own move near the summit, the race for the stage win was effectively over.

“My teammates did an amazing job today,” he said. “They rode on the front from the start and didn’t give the breakaway a chance. On the final climb they reduced the group, and then I had to finish it off myself.”

The victory was Vingegaard’s fourth of this year’s Giro. That means he’s getting close to Grand Tour rival Tadej Pogačar’s six stage wins from his dominant 2024 Giro campaign. Still, the Dane downplayed any comparison with the Slovenian.

“No, I take it day by day,” Vingegaard said. “Now I have four stage wins, and we’ll see what we want to do for the rest of the race.”

With several mountain stages still remaining before Sunday’s finale in Rome, Vingegaard now leads the Giro by more than four minutes overall.

There are still three very tough days ahead as the ragazzi heads to Rome. Stage 17, 19 and 20 are just leg-breakers. Sunday is the traditional finish in Rome, but Vingegaard could very well tie Pogi’s performance with some of the upcoming stages.