"I expected more from Jonas Vingegaard... Maybe he’s been a bit sick or something" - Geraint Thomas questions whether Visma leader is "off the boil" at Giro d'Italia

Jonas Vingegaard moved closer to the Maglia Rosa on Stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia, but his performance in the race’s only individual time trial has raised fresh questions over whether the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader is quite at his usual level.

The Dane cut Afonso Eulalio’s overall lead from 2:24 to just 27 seconds on the 42km route from Viareggio to Massa, but he finished only 13th on the stage, three minutes down on Filippo Ganna. It was enough to tighten the GC battle, but not enough to take pink on a day many expected him to seize the race lead.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Watts Occurring podcast, Geraint Thomas admitted Vingegaard had not quite produced the ride he expected.

“Jonas was a bit, I expected more from him,” said Thomas. “Maybe a bit off the boil, I’d say. I don’t want to ruffle anyone’s feathers, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but I think there was more expectation of a better performance.”

Stage 10 was always expected to be a major test of Eulalio’s pink jersey, but it also became a test of Vingegaard’s own level. The flat, power-based time trial was not perfectly suited to him, yet the expectation before the stage was that he could still take enough time to move into the race lead.

Instead, Vingegaard gained 1:57 on Eulalio but lost 1:06 to Thymen Arensman, who finished second on the stage behind Ganna. That left the Dane closer to pink, but without the emphatic statement ride many had anticipated.

Thomas’ point was not limited to the time trial. Vingegaard had already won both summit finishes at this Giro, taking victory on Blockhaus and again at Corno alle Scale, but Thomas suggested the gap between the Dane and the rest of the GC field has not looked as wide as expected.

“Maybe he’s been a bit sick or something,” Thomas added. “Even on those mountain days, don’t get me wrong, he smashed everyone, he won two stages, but the standards that he set, along with Pog, I would have expected if he was at his previous best, the gap to Gall would be bigger.”

That was the key nuance. Thomas was not arguing that Vingegaard has been weak. The Visma leader has won two stages, taken time on his rivals and now sits within half a minute of the Giro lead. But Thomas believes the dominance has not looked quite as overwhelming as the Dane’s reputation might suggest.

Connor Swift agreed that the gap might have been expected to be wider, replying: “A bit bigger, yeah.”

Thomas then pushed the point further, linking Vingegaard’s Stage 10 display with the wider pattern of the race so far. “It just feels like that gap between the rest, so to speak, and Jonas is a lot closer on those mountain days,” he said. “Today he was just not pinging.”

That line gives the debate its edge. Vingegaard remains in a powerful position, but Stage 10 added to the sense that he may not yet be operating at the extraordinary level he has shown in previous Grand Tours.

There is another layer to the result. Vingegaard did not take the Maglia Rosa, but that may not be entirely unwelcome for Visma. Holding the jersey early in a Grand Tour brings extra duties, more media obligations and the burden of daily control.

Swift suggested Vingegaard may be more frustrated by the riders who beat him on the day than by missing pink itself. “I don’t think so,” Swift said when asked whether Vingegaard wanted pink already. “I think he’ll be more annoyed that he didn’t beat some of the other GC guys and lost a bit of time than not taking pink.”

Thomas also pointed out the tactical upside of leaving Bahrain - Victorious in control for now. “It’s fine. Bahrain can control for another three days,” he said.

That is the balance around Vingegaard’s Giro after Stage 10. He missed the expected chance to take pink, but doing so may spare Visma the immediate burden of defending the race lead. At the same time, being beaten by Arensman and several other riders against the clock adds a sharper edge to Thomas’ wider question about whether the Dane is currently at his absolute best.

Thomas still stressed that Vingegaard remains in a very strong position. The Dane may not have produced the emphatic ride many anticipated, but he has left the time trial only 27 seconds down on Eulalio with most of the Giro’s hardest climbing still ahead.

“Saying that, he’s still leading out of the GC guys, still in a really strong position,” Thomas said. “Part of me thinks maybe he hasn’t been 100%, or it was a bit of an off day.”

Vingegaard has not yet taken the jersey, and Stage 10 did not produce the statement performance many expected. But he is now close enough to pink that one acceleration in the mountains could still change the race completely.