"I feel 100 percent" - Jonas Vingegaard silences illness speculation as he declares Giro d'Italia fitness

Jonas Vingegaard has issued an update after it was confirmed that he was among the Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders suffering symptoms of sickness in recent days at the Giro d'Italia.

The Danish rider has faced criticism for recent performances, and his team confirmed that he was suffering with some illness issues during the corsa rosa - which have impeded him in his bid to win the pink jersey.

The Danish rider has already picked up two stage wins on mountain-top finishes but turned heads as other podium contenders such as Felix Gall appeared to be on a similar level of climbing, and a lacklustre time trial performance in stage 10 fell below his usual high standards.

Speculation has grown about the Dane's condition following the team's announcement, but Vingegaard has definitively laid out how he feels.

"On the bike, I feel 100 percent," Vingegaard told reporters before stage 13 on Friday, seemingly putting to bed speculation that he could be in for a tough time on Saturday's mountain stage.

With the Ungiasca climb topping at 13 kilometers to go on Friday, and featuring a last two kilometers at around 10% gradient, Vingegaard is focusing on getting to the finish line before he assesses stage 14's high mountain stage.

"At the moment, I'm not thinking about tomorrow. I think today will be a pretty hard final. It can also turn out to be a pretty hard day in total. First of all, I have to focus on today, in the afternoon I'll start focusing on tomorrow."

Visma reiterated on stage 12 that a breakout of symptoms is under control. Speaking to TV2 Sport, Visma sports director Jesper Morkov said the team had dealt with illness, although he stressed that the situation now appears to be under control. “Yes, we have had a bit of coughing and tickling in the throat among some of the boys, but everything now seems to be fine,” Morkov explained.

Asked whether Vingegaard had also been among those affected, Morkov confirmed: “He has also been one of them, but everything seems to be fine.”