Could Visma surprise - New climbing weapon might be used to replace Wout Van Aert at the Tour de France

Team Visma | Lease a Bike are currently finalizing their plans for the 2026 Giro d'Italia and there are questions still left to be answered. The main one being who will take Wout Van Aert's place, and that could turn out to be Davide Piganzoli surprisingly.

The team has had to change plans due to the injuries of two riders - two classics specialists, coincidentally. Christophe Laporte suffered a quad injury back in May and so one position had to be filled.

CylingUpToDate analyzed the contenders at the time to fill in the role and the decision was likely to be between Ben Turner, Jorgen Nordhagen and Per Strand Hagenes.

Whilst both climbers showed great form at the Tour Auvergne--Rhône-Alpes, Het Laatste Nieuws reported that it would be Hagenes that would step in. The young Norwegian does not have experience on his side, but has a very strong season and the skillset that is the most similar to Laporte.

But another question then surged as Wout Van Aert suffered a training crash before Auvergne. Whilst he still rode to a stage win in the French race, he withdrew from it the day after.

The elbow injury that looked to be a minor inconvenience turned out to be more serious. He required two surgeries to clean the wounds, avoiding serious risk of sepsis. Only this weekend did the Belgian return to the bike.

But Visma had confirmed in the meantime that Van Aert would be in no physical shape to approach the Tour at the necessary level to significantly help the team conquer the yellow jersey with Jonas Vingegaard.

It would be logical that the final position in the lineup would then be decided between Tulett and Nordhagen. But throughout the week another rider has put himself on great display, and might even be the one to be chosen.

That is Davide Piganzoli, and according to Ciro Scognamiglio of Gazzetta dello Sport, 'there could be a spot' for the Italian rider. At the Giro d'Italia the youngster, in his maiden year with Visma, impressed.

Piganzoli finished high in the overall classification whilst on a full domestique role for the Dane, and had very strong results himself. Logic would have it that fatigue would get the best of him, but he showed tremendous form this weekend by winning the queen stage of La Route d'Occitanie by a long margin.

After having taken a small period of rest, the Italian's form is still present, and the team is considering him for a support role at the Grand Boucle - after his and Vingegaard's proximity were more than confirmed throughout the three weeks in Italy.