"Mentally, that can be a little discouraging" - Davide Piganzoli on staggering Tour de France level compared to Giro d'Italia
CyclingWednesday, 29 July 2026 at 12:46
Davide Piganzoli made his Tour de France debut this month after he was drafted in as last-minute cover for Visma | Lease a Bike to support jonas Vingegaard. Finishing 14th overall and actingas a mountain domestique for the Dane until his crash, the Italian climber got a taste of cycling's top table.
At 24-years-old, piganzoli is something of a young Giro d'Italia veteran as he made his third appearance in the Grand Tour, proving key in helping Vingegaard seal the pink jersey. Having signed over winter after acting as leader for Pro team Polti–VisitMalta in previous editions, Piganzoli's signature has been a success for the Dutch team.
However, his late call-up gave him a crash course in the higher echelons of the sport as he saw how the Tour proved a cut above the Giro, with little room for error and a frantic pace, the Italian's debut leaves him with plenty of experience at the highest level.
Reflecting on his performance, Piganzoli noted the differences between the Corsa Rosa and La Grand Boucle, especially in the start to finish intensity. Although he found it hard in the first week to keep pace, he did hit his stride before the accumulative fatigue of his second Grand Tour of the season hit home.
“At the Tour, it is difficult to find a quiet moment,” Piganzoli told Bici.pro. “There was never a day when we really rested. At the Giro, there were moments when the peloton slowed down. Here, that hardly ever happened.”
Davide Piganzoli at the 2026 Tour de France
Piganzoli notices huge difference between Giro and Tour
“I was really tired until the end of the second week. The final rest day helped and I started to feel better, but the fatigue came back in the last two stages.”
While his early season preparation meant he came to the Tour still in excellent shape, his capabilities in the Giro didn't quite translate to French roads. As a mountain domestique, Piganzoli blew away much of the peloton when he opened the taps on the mountains.
At the Tour, he felt a bit discouraged to see that same intensity didn't do the same, with dozens of riders able to keep pace compared to the competition in May.
“I had prepared for the Giro from the beginning of the year. I wanted to show the team that I could do the job they had given me.”
He added: “I was quite relaxed. I knew I was in good shape. From the numbers I had done at the Giro, I thought I could stay with the first 15 or 20 riders here. At the Giro, when I went to the front and set the pace, there might be five or ten riders left. Here, I looked behind and there were still 50. Mentally, that can be a little discouraging.”
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Opening up on Jonas Vingegaard's crash on stage 15, Piganzoli claimed that the team were never riding for second place. Hinting at their plan to beat Tadej Pogacar, he claimed their aim was to set a consistent ferocious pace and discourage any disruptive accelerations from the Slovenian.
Piganzoli continued: “It was a shame about Jonas, especially because it happened on one of the stages we had targeted. After that, we tried to make the best of the situation.
“As long as Jonas was in the race, we were riding to win the Tour. We were not riding for second place.”
“Jonas finds changes of rhythm more difficult, but on a steady pace we thought we could do something. At Le Markstein, when he started riding on the front, Pogacar looked less brilliant than usual.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- So you are going back to the late 1990's to prove a point, which you have not proven. I thought you said facts over feelings, new guy..awp29-07-2026
- It's ok, in America we have freedom of speech, so you are covered.awp29-07-2026
- As I said, it's using a few examples that don't compile to an end result but it's certainly close. Concerning bikes from then to now, fatter tires now, they are faster, more aero frames now, a tiny amount faster, weight is the same. They've been doing altitude camps for decades, Lances teams included. Nutrition is better, but lance was a nutrition extremist back then, so other than in race fueling there's not a whole lot of difference. You are missing the first big piece of evidence, that when Lance was 22 his Vo2 system was recorded at 81.2 ml/kg/min. Miracles and fantasies don't happen in procycling. If they did I could have taken my 66 Vo2 system, trained my eyeballs out (which I did anyway) and won the Tour in my twenties.awp29-07-2026
- That is a silly apples to oranges comparison. You give Pogi and all the rest the advantages of modern bicycles, training, fueling and "altitude camps' but compare that to what was being done twenty years ago. Riders from then moved forward in time with all the modern advantages would be just as competitive now. They would just have to adjust to the modern doping techniques compared to what they did then.cdw29-07-2026
- Researchers (e.g., Norwegian Ole Kristian Berg, Pedro L. Valenzuela, Samo Rauter, Tim Podlogar and colleagues) have estimated Pogačar’s VO2 max in the high 90s (around 91–96 ml/kg/min on average, potentially up to 96–102 ml/kg/min) based on his climbing performances in the Tour de France and other races. Feelings don't play into it, only data.awp29-07-2026
- They almost the same personality when you spend time around both of them.textrips29-07-2026
- I hope he does win 7 or 8 then the Lance fan boys can finally shut up.Pedalmasher29-07-2026
- How much time have you spent around Lemond? I beg to differ.textrips29-07-2026
- According to whom? Total BS, you have no idea what anyone’s real VO2 is in the pro peloton. Unless you are the scientist running the test. Facts over feelings.textrips29-07-2026
- Lance's best recorded vo2 max test was when he was 22 at 81.2 ml/kg/min. It's been estimated that Tadej is a 95-96, Jonas is around this same number while Remco is closer to Lemond at 92 or 93. Based on Lances physiology, he would finish thirty minutes to over an hour behind Tadej in this years Tour edition or tenth to fifteenth place. Vo2 max is not everything but it is a key indicator of an athletes potential and while Lance did have talent he was not even close to Tadej. He acknowledges this and I'm not an anti Armstrong guy, I watched all of his Tours and enjoyed them all. The whole peloton was cheating back then and may be cheating now, if they are, we don't know the methods, but I like to think they aren't until they are caught..awp29-07-2026
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