"Terrible. It was terrible" - Jonas Vingegaard comes down hard on Giro d'Italia time trial as Visma leader fails to take expected Maglia Rosa on Stage 10

Jonas Vingegaard gained almost two minutes on Afonso Eulalio in the Stage 10 time trial at the Giro d’Italia, but the day still fell short of the takeover many expected from the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader.

The Dane started the 42km test from Viareggio to Massa 2:24 behind Eulalio and was widely tipped to move into the Maglia Rosa on the race’s only individual time trial. Instead, he finished 13th on the stage, three minutes down on dominant winner Filippo Ganna, and gained 1:57 on the Portuguese race leader.

That left Eulalio still in pink by 27 seconds, while Vingegaard was left to reflect on a performance that moved him closer to the Giro lead without producing the emphatic statement many had anticipated.

Asked by Cycling Pro Net how the time trial had felt, Vingegaard did not dress it up. “Terrible. It was terrible,” he said. “It was a very long, flat time trial, and it’s not my specialty to do a flat time trial like this.”

Vingegaard had already won both summit finishes in this Giro, taking victories on Blockhaus and Corno alle Scale before the race reached its second week. That made Stage 10 the obvious moment for him to complete the shift in control and remove Eulalio from the top of the general classification.

Instead, the flat course proved more difficult. Vingegaard was never close to Ganna’s stage-winning pace and was also beaten by several riders with more natural time trial power on the day, including Thymen Arensman, who finished second and surged into third overall.

Vingegaard accepted that the route did not play to his biggest strengths. “I’ve never been super good in it,” he said of a time trial of this type. “And to be honest, I think I came through it pretty well today.”

That was the strange balance of his afternoon. In GC terms, Vingegaard still made progress. He cut Eulalio’s lead from 2:24 to 27 seconds and remains the clear favourite to take pink later in the race. But judged against the expectation that he would seize the jersey on Stage 10, it was not the ride many had expected.

Asked whether the flat nature of the route explained why riders such as Derek Gee-West and Ben O’Connor gained on others in the GC fight, Vingegaard agreed. “Yeah, I think so,” he said. “A completely flat time trial like this benefits the bigger guys a bit more. The more power you have, the better it is.”

The overall standings still look favourable for Vingegaard. Eulalio remains first, but with less than half a minute in hand, while Arensman has moved up to third at 1:57 after Netcompany INEOS’ dominant day against the clock.

For Vingegaard, the disappointment of missing pink did not change the bigger picture. He is still within touching distance of the race lead, still wearing the mountains jersey, and still has the high mountains to come. “I think I’m in a good spot at the moment,” he said. “Of course, I’m pretty close to the pink jersey now, and of course it would have been nice to have the pink jersey already.”

Vingegaard also pushed back against the idea that missing pink should overshadow the jersey he already holds. “Every day in a jersey is a pleasure and something you have to be happy about,” he said. “So of course I’m also happy with the blue jersey. That’s not a problem. In the end, I think I’m in a good spot.”

Stage 10 did not deliver the expected Maglia Rosa takeover. It did, however, leave the Giro balanced on a knife edge. Eulalio has survived another major threat, but Vingegaard has moved to within 27 seconds with much of the race still to come.