"I wanted to stay close to Jonas in case he suffered a mechanical": Stage 9 revelation Davide Piganzoli explains

Jonas Vingegaard went back-to-back with yet another summit finish victory atop Corno alle Scale in the 2026 Giro d'Italia stage 9, but as much was expected of the Dane were the stage decided among GC riders. However Team Visma | Lease a Bike had another unexpected star today thanks to their newcomer Davide Piganzoli who crossed finish line in a third place.

So far, the Italian's been mainly put to work as the penultimate link in Vingegaard's mountain train, before Sepp Kuss. But on Sunday, his services were not necessary as Decathlon CMA CGM took control of the pace, allowing Piganzoli to save his energy and go for his own result.

Speaking to Eurosport, he explained that this performance did not come out of the blue for him: "I have been feeling very good these last few days," said Piganzoli, who indicated that his team actually had no intention of going for the stage win. "We weren’t going for the win, but we were in a good position in the final because the gap to the breakaway wasn’t that big."

Once a stage win was up for grabs, Visma of course willingly used a few of its pawns at the front to keep up the pace in moments when Decathlon seemed to be short on manpower. "On the final climb, we set the pace [with Tim Rex, Bart Lemmen and Victor Campenaerts]. Sepp (Kuss) did a great job for Jonas. Gall then attacked and Jonas was able to follow."

Once the big guns have gone, Piganzoli's job was finished for the day... but the 23-year-old climber had other plans than coasting towards the top as he stuck to Thymen Arensman's wheel.

"I wanted to stay close to Jonas in case he suffered a mechanical problem. There was no car behind us," explained Piganzoli, who is delighted with his result. "I am super happy!"

While Vingegaard is at a convincing pace closing in towards current overall leader Afonso Eulálio in a second place overall, Piganzoli's exploit on Sunday allows him to move to a currently thirteenth place in the general classification. The Italian sits more than six minutes behind Eulálio and 3:37 off Vignegaard.