"Humiliation and motivation" - How Jonas Vingegaard is seen by one of the Giro's most promising climbers
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar is the best climber in the world currently, but pro cycling has several riders that have an unreachable level even for the average World Tour climber. At the Giro d'Italia, Jonas Vingegaard is ruling over every single mountain stage; something that is described by Uno-X Mobility's Johannes Kulset.
Humiliation and motivation
“It’s a combination of humiliation and motivation. It’s painful to see somebody being so much stronger than you, but at the same time, it’s really motivating," Kulset said in an interview on the Domestique Hotseat podcast.
The Norwegian came into the Giro with hopes of fighting for the overall classification, however he hasn't found his best level and has not been in contention. After several strong GC placings in 2025, the 22-year old looked to test himself, and also found a modest GC field in which he had chances.
Kulset lost time on the stage into Cosenza which initially was a big hit for his C goals; however as the peloton arrived to Blockhaus - the first mountain stage of the race - his form showed that the Top10 would be a difficult goal to achieve. He entered the final week in 21st place.
For the young climber, the level shown by the main riders on Blockhaus was dramatic. “When Vingegaard is going, like on Blockhaus, when I was in the wheel at the bottom and then you’re struggling like crazy and then you watch the race over and you are dropping while Vingegaard is nose breathing. So that’s painful".
Read also
Kulset defends Vingegaard and peloton's decision to neutralize Milano stage
Hence, his chances lay with breakaways. He has tried to succeed on stages 8 and 14, but without success. The team managed to get a stage win through Fredrik Dversnes, the best the team could hope for at this point in the race. “When you are not one of the top, top tier riders, then you have to maybe look at some other stages than the natural breakaway stages".
On stage 15, Kulset, who is not in contention for a top result, was in agreement with the decision to neutralize the finale when it came to GC times, as he explains: “The road surface was really bad. It was really dangerous. They knew the loop beforehand and they could have done this maybe before".

Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
- I'm picking .... .... Never mind 🫥flyer07-11-2026
- If Tiberi has a better and more consistent 2027 I somehow doubt it will be because of this victorious warning. Unless his preparation has been off, cycling isn't football.flyer07-11-2026
- Love this guy. He is such a pure racer.mij07-11-2026
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