“Always listen to your dad, especially if he’s bald” - Victor Campenaerts delivers peak Giro d’Italia comedy as bold fashion choice is explained before another wet stage

Victor Campenaerts has already become one of the more visible figures in Jonas Vingegaard’s Giro d’Italia support structure, often positioned as a key road captain and right-hand man for Team Visma | Lease a Bike as they guide their leader through the hazards of the opening week. Before Stage 6, though, the Belgian’s contribution was a little less tactical and a little more comic.

Ahead of another wet day at the Corsa Rosa, Campenaerts appeared at the start wearing extra protection under his helmet. Asked by Eurosport’s Anders Mielke what it was, he kept the explanation simple. “A hat. Thats, we call it,” he joked, before making clear there was nothing aerodynamic or revolutionary behind the decision.

Campenaerts said the choice was purely about staying warm after suffering in the rain and cold on Stage 5. “No, it’s just to keep my head warm, because I froze my head off yesterday,” he explained. “I have no hairs on my head, by choice.”

That was when the story took a very Campenaerts turn. The Belgian revealed that the advice had come from his father, who had not been impressed by his son’s lack of head protection the previous day. “But my dad was bald from the age of 16, not by choice,” Campenaerts said. “And he said, ‘I don’t understand why you had nothing on your head yesterday. You lose so much heat.’”

For a rider carrying serious responsibility in Vingegaard’s Giro campaign, it was another reminder of why Campenaerts remains one of the peloton’s most watchable personalities. His job in this race is to protect, position and support Visma’s main favourite, but his off-bike delivery continues to bring a lighter edge to a tense opening week. “Always listen to your dad,” he added.

Mielke then neatly signed off the exchange with the line Campenaerts had effectively invited: “Remember, always listen to your dad, especially if he’s bald.”

The comic timing came in the middle of another difficult Giro opening week, with rain, crashes and cold conditions already shaping the race. For Campenaerts, though, the lesson before Stage 6 was not tactical, technical or marginal gains related.

It was much simpler: bald heads need covering, and dads are usually right.