"I regret my choice of tires today" - Jonas Vingegaard escapes treacherous Giro day despite equipment worries

Stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia ended in breakaway success whilst the peloton remained conservative. However, in a day with plenty climbs and also technical descents, Jonas Vingegaard could not afford to take it easy. He has discussed the stage and also how his choice of tires worried him.

“I think it ended up being quite a hard stage but with a profile like this, you could quite expect it. It took a long time before the breakaway went and from there, I think all the GC teams were quite happy," the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider said in a post-race interview.

GC action was not expected on what was a transition day, whilst the stage hunters had an hours-long battle to get to the winning move. From there on out, Bahrain - Victorious controlled the pace in the peloton, whilst INEOS Grenadiers often took to the front to protect Thymen Arensman who is now third behind Vingegaard.

“Everybody wanted to have a bit of an easy day, if you can say that. And I think they took control just not to let the break get too much time.”

But the Dane didn't believe he was being tested, the day after his poor time trial performance. “I wouldn’t say they tried to test anyone, or else the pace should have been a bit higher, I would guess. So yeah, I think it was more to defend.”

Vingegaard saved his legs, and will likely do so until this Saturday's stage in the Valle d'Aosta, however his feedback from the bike is good.

“I actually felt pretty good. My legs were good, but there are also many tough stages ahead in the second part of the Giro. It was a tough stage today, and everyone suffered a bit to get through it, but I’m happy with how we got through it.”

However what was not good was his choice of tires. There was heavy criticism early in the race over UAE Team Emirates - XRG's tire choice, riding time trial tires during a wet and technical stage in Bulgaria, which might have led to their mass crash.

The use of these tires on road stages is frequent by other teams, however it depends on the day. With the many difficult descents the riders had on this stage, Vingegaard says he regretted his choice.

“Of course, I was very alert. Those were really tricky descents. I regret my choice of tires today. I was riding on TT tyres, and I didn’t feel confident on them, but I didn’t skid or anything.”

This Thursday on stage 12 the Dane should have a slightly easier day, as the road into Novi Ligure is mostly flat, and the sprinters can enjoy another opportunity to go for a stage win.