"It's not a goal to dominate" - Visma want the Giro d'Italia win with Jonas Vingegaard; not a repetition of Tadej Pogacar's past Giro achievements

Team Visma | Lease a Bike are not in the lead of the Giro d'Italia, but are comfortable in second place whilst Afonso Eulálio carries the pink jersey for the time being. Team DS Marc Reef talked about the team's updated ambitions, how they intend to win the Corsa Rosa, and Jonas Vingegaard's rivals.

"The most important thing is that we win the GC, and it's not a goal to dominate," Visma DS shared in words to Cyclingnews before stage 8. "Of course, we would like to win maybe one or two more stages, but we also have to see".

In 2024 Tadej Pogacar won the GC but also six stages, dominating the race from start to finish. However, the Dutch has never looked towards trying to replicate that, but instead do their own race with their own way of executing their goals.

Aside from that, there is no wish to burn the team chasing breakaways for the time being, taking into consideration that an overall win is nowhere near assured. "It's a race of three weeks, and you always need to expect the unexpected. In the last four years, the race was turned upside down on stage 20".

"I hope that will not be the case, but if we get into the situation, we still need to be ready for that, and sometimes you need to balance your energy. In that way, sometimes you can go for a stage, and at other moments you can let the break take the stage, but the goal is not to dominate, the goal is to win it in the end."

From what the race has shown over the opening eight days, it is Vingegaard who has a hold of the favourite status. He is the first out of the main GC contenders, ahead of a time trial where the gaps are expected to increase.

"He wants to win. It's mostly about winning that he wants to be here, and when he has the possibilities to do that, he wants to show that more than anything else. That's what he's been getting out of bed for, to step on his bike, show that he has been working hard, and to win the race."

"You can make all kinds of plans, and think about balance up front, but when you're in the race, the only thing that counts is to do everything right here and to push yourself to win it".

Ultimately, the Dane looks to do the Giro-Tour double. But Reef does not want thoughts about the Tour at this point, and does not want to hinder Vingegaard and the team's focus with a separate race.

"We are here now in this Giro, so we only think about winning the Giro. After that comes the Tour, and we'll see what the situation is and plan for it. Anyway, you will be challenged by your opponent, so either you do it yourself or someone else will just be setting the pace."

On the Blockhaus, Giulio Pellizzari looked to follow the Dane - as he had been able to do on stage 2 - whilst Felix Gall said his own numbers took him by surprise on the final climb. This shows there is quite a lot of capacity to put Visma under pressure.

"It (stage 7, ed.) confirmed his role as being a favourite here in this race, and we also said already we're not going to walk away from that. But we also saw how strong the rest are. Pellizzari followed him for a long time, then blew up, but he'll learn again from this, and Felix Gall was still close at the finish line, so we just need to stay sharp and keep doing things 100%".

In a Grand Tour, every detail matters, and a lot can go wrong. Hence, the team does not dare underestimate its rivals, specially the leader of Decathlon CMA CGM Team who is also known to be very strong in the third week of Grand Tours - where this one will be decided.

"Gall showed yesterday how good he is. He showed it in the past already, and yes, he was not on the podium yet of a Grand Tour, but he's started off well here and, of course, he's a really big opponent of ours."