"He makes himself less loved" - Jonas Vingegaard blasted by ex-teammate Tom Dumoulin over Giro stage 9 victory

Tom Dumoulin has criticised former teammate and Giro d'Italia favourite Jonas Vingegaard for his race tactics during his victory in stage 9. The 2017 Giro winner said the Dane's late attack wasn't 'stylish' and questioned how much energy it would save in his general classification bid.

Vingegaard attacked his current nearest rival Felix Gall inside the final kilometer on Corno alle Scale last Sunday to take the victory, drawing criticism after following the Austrian's wheel and not assisting the Decathlon CMA CGM rider after his team led the peloton for most of the stage and the majority of general classification contenders behind.

While admitting that Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike rode a 'sensible' race, Dumoulin hit out at the two-time Tour de France winner for not taking a turn with Gall or acting like a 'great champion'.

“In any case, he is riding very economically. The Giro is at its toughest in the third week, so you should not put everything on the table already,” Dumoulin said on the NOS Wielerpodcast. “They rode a very sensible race. Why would you start wasting energy already?”

“They leave all the work to Decathlon, then [Giulio] Pellizzari drops, who beforehand was Vingegaard’s biggest rival. Then I do think: come on. You are the great Vingegaard, the great champion of this Giro, then at least take one turn. Sorry, but I did not find this stylish. That one pull really would not have cost him any energy in the final week,” he said.

Vingegaard has previously found himself on the tail end of criticism over his race tactics, with the Dane occasionally observed using conservative tactics aimed at increasing his chances of overall victory.

The 2017 Giro d'Italia winner used Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel as examples of riders who race based more on instinct and often attack freely. However, he did note that Vingegaard should not be totally scrutinised, given he attacked decisively on the Blockhaus to win stage 7.

Dumoulin added: “I do think he makes himself less loved with this. I think Pogacar would think: ‘I would never have done it that way.’ There is a lot of respect for guys like Van der Poel and Pogacar because they race with their hearts.

"In moments like this, I do think: Jonas, why? I understand that it is smart, but what difference does that one turn make? I really did not think it was a stylish way to win that stage.

“I should not be too critical, because in the stage to Blockhaus he raced very well and attacked nicely. Sunday was just a little less nice.”