“Everyone will be looking at him” - Italian world champion says Jonas Vingegaard can turn Giro d’Italia pressure into Visma advantage

Three stages into the 2026 Giro d’Italia, Jonas Vingegaard is already the rider shaping the race even without taking the Maglia Rosa. For the last Italian world champion Alessandro Ballan, that status may yet become a tactical advantage for Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

The Danish favourite began the race with the full weight of expectation on his shoulders after a series of major pre-race absences reshaped the battle for the Maglia Rosa. With Joao Almeida, Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa all missing from the start list, the race has quickly developed around Vingegaard’s status as the rider everyone else must watch.

For Ballan, the winner of the 2008 road race world title, that changes not only the perception of the race, but also the way teams may approach the next three weeks.

“There is not much to be done, he is considered the focal point of the race, just as Pogacar is considered in other situations,” Ballan told Bici.Pro. “Everyone will be looking at him, at his team, and at what he decides to do.”

Vingegaard has already shown his strength in Bulgaria, attacking on the final climb of Stage 2 and forcing only Giulio Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt to follow. The move did not survive to the line, but it underlined Visma’s willingness to test the race early.

Ballan sees only two teams as genuine candidates to take responsibility for the overall victory. “Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe are the only two teams that are really here aiming for overall victory,” he said. “Vingegaard has undoubtedly come here with big ambitions, but the Germans, with Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari himself, who is going strongly, also have a very competitive team.”

That leaves the rest of the GC field in a different position. Riders such as Felix Gall, Ben O’Connor and Giulio Ciccone may still have serious ambitions, but Ballan does not believe their teams need to carry the same daily responsibility as Visma or Red Bull. “For all the others, I think the ambition is to reach the podium and get a good placing, because I do not see many rivals to those two,” he said. “But it will not be up to them to control the race.”

That distinction could matter throughout the first half of the Giro. Visma have the strongest favourite, but they will not want to spend three weeks defending every move, especially with the most decisive mountain stages still to come.

Ballan expects the Giro to remain more open than a Tour de France controlled from the first mountain test. He argued that the Italian Grand Tour’s traditional rhythm, with the hardest consequences often arriving in the final week, should influence Visma’s approach.

“I think their teams, and I would have included UAE too without the great misfortune of yesterday’s crash, are here without too much pressure first of all and without the obligation to work, especially in the first two weeks,” he said of the teams chasing podium positions rather than outright control.

That could create more space for breakaways. Soudal - Quick-Step have already taken two sprint wins through Paul Magnier, while several teams outside the GC fight are likely to chase stage victories once the race reaches Italy.

Ballan believes Visma may also benefit from allowing other squads to take responsibility where possible. “That is a tactic that, in cycling when I was racing, was always used by many teams,” he said. “Recently we have not been used to seeing these things anymore, but I still think it is useful to have a team with as much strength as possible in the final part, especially at the Giro d’Italia, because it is hard, there is a lot of climbing in the final week and it really makes itself felt.”

The key, in Ballan’s view, is preserving riders such as Sepp Kuss for when the Giro reaches its decisive terrain. “So it is logical that if Visma can make another team work in order to preserve pieces like Kuss or others with more energy for the final stages, that can undoubtedly be an added value for Vingegaard.”

Away from Vingegaard, Ballan sees a major opportunity for Italian riders to attack the upper places of the overall standings. Pellizzari has already impressed by following Vingegaard’s Stage 2 acceleration, while Ciccone remains one of the most intriguing names in the race.

“Yes, of course, and the Italians must not let the opportunity slip away,” Ballan said when asked whether there is uncertainty behind Vingegaard. “I do not just mean Pellizzari, but also Giulio Ciccone, who has always given us great Giri d’Italia and is the kind of rider who can chase stage results but also bring home a final placing.”

Ballan was particularly strong on Ciccone’s progress in recent seasons. “I really believe in Ciccone because he has been making huge strides in recent years,” he said. “We got to know him three years ago at the Giro, but from then on he really started to show himself and he has also managed to carve out a nice space for himself in one of the strongest teams in the WorldTour.”

Ciccone and Pellizzari may not begin the Italian phase as equal favourites to Vingegaard, but Ballan sees room for them to shape the race. “We should not look only at Vingegaard,” he said. “Technically, aside from the Dane, this is a very open Giro with various possible outcomes.”

For Visma, that openness brings both risk and opportunity. Vingegaard is the rider everyone is watching, but if his team can avoid carrying the whole race too early, the pressure around him may yet become another weapon.