"That Merckx won his first Giro stage here... I’ll leave that comparison to you" - Jonas Vingegaard's Blockhaus win comes with a special meaning

Jonas Vingegaard is riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time and has this Friday won his first stage at the Corsa Rosa - completing the list of stage wins in all Grand Tours. He has also done it on the Blockhaus, where Eddy Merckx also took his first win at the Giro.

Merckx is the rider who has held the maglia rosa for the most amount of days in the race's history, much due to his five overall wins. Vingegaard has not yet done it for the time being, but is expected to later this Giro.

Earlier this spring there was a very similar comparison, with Paul Seixas taking his first pro win on the Alto da Fóia at the Volta ao Algarve; the same location where Tadej Pogacar won for the first time as a pro back in 2019.

“I’m mainly happy that I now belong to the group of riders who have won stages in all three Grand Tours,” the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider, now second in the overall classification, said in a post-race interview.

“That I can win my first Giro stage here on Blockhaus is also something special, because this climb apparently means a lot to the Giro. That Merckx won his first Giro stage here... I’ll leave that comparison to you. It doesn’t really mean that much to me.”

Vingegaard did not take the pink jersey, but is now the new leader of the KOM classification as a result of his win on the first summit finish in the race. The advantage is only of one point to Diego Pablo Sevilla, but there is a preference to lose it.

That is because the race's sole time trial will come on stage 10, and Vingegaard would rather race it on his own Visma skinsuit; other than an organization-provided one, which would not assure the same aerodynamical attributes.

“I’m happy to have the blue jersey. The time trial is not tomorrow, and in any case I’m happy to have it for at least one day. There are also mountain points tomorrow".

However, the Dane did not look to make a big deal out of it: “Right now, we’ll have to see whether I ride the time trial in our own suit or in another suit. In any case, I wouldn’t call it a problem to have the jersey in the race.”