"It is impossible to save yourself during a Grand Tour" - Visma are not trying to 'save' Jonas Vingegaard for Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard has the plan to race both Giro d'Italia and Tour de France this summer. There is speculation that up against a modest GC field, the Dane will try to take it easier on the Corsa Rosa so as to manage fatigue before the Tour; however that is firmly denied by the team who are not focusing on the French Grand Tour for the time being.

"It is impossible to save yourself during a Grand Tour. You have to keep doing everything right when you are here," team DS Marc Reef said on The Cycling Podcast. Vingegaard heads into the second week ahead of his direct GC rivals, and set to extend the gaps significantly in the race's sole time trial.

On Blockhaus and Corno alle Scale he has already taken two wins, gathering the KOM jersey and important time against his rivals - whilst Giulio Pellizzari, favourite number 2 in the eyes of many at the start of the race, has lost meaningful time over the opening week.

And in these stages, Vingegaard has given everything he had. "You saw that on Blockhaus towards the end, he had some trouble maintaining his pace."

That is, for Visma, mostly a matter of mindset. If the team begins to race thinking about future goals, they will simply not be focused on the task currently at hand; and motivation-wise that is also likely going to harm their performance.

"If you start riding with the brakes on and thinking about things in the future, then you don't have the right mindset. We are going to face challenges in the coming weeks in the Giro d'Italia."

The Dutch team has seen most of their rivals fade into distance, minutes away on GC, except for Felix Gall. Whilst in the time trial it is likely to increase, the Austrian has shown a similar level in the mountains and has also been on the attack.

Reef talked about Decathlon, who took initiative this Sunday. "For us, it was good at the start that the breakaway was heading for the finish. When they took control immediately, we already had the feeling that they would go for the stage."

"It makes sense that they have confidence in Felix. They were really riding for the win today. Was it a surprise? Yes, a little bit. They used all their riders. The moment they ran out of riders, the gap wasn't big, and Jonas said he felt good, we also committed fully," he explained.