“The shape is good” - Jonas Vingegaard stays calm despite Giro d’Italia blow as key Visma mountain domestique withdraws

Jonas Vingegaard has insisted his Giro d’Italia condition is exactly where it needs to be, even as Team Visma | Lease a Bike continue to count the cost of the brutal Stage 2 crash that has already reshaped the opening week of the race.

The Dane came through the Bulgarian Grande Partenza without losing time and showed his first real acceleration of the race on the climb towards Lyaskovets Monastery, where he briefly went clear with Giulio Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt. The move did not result in a stage win or a time gap, but it did underline that Vingegaard had arrived at the Giro with sharp legs.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net before Stage 4, Vingegaard made clear that his own confidence has not been shaken.

“I'm really happy with how everything's going,” he said. “The shape is good and I showed good numbers there already, so I'm happy with how everything is going and I'm looking forward to the stages coming.”

That message came on a day when Visma had to start without Wilco Kelderman, who was ruled out following the lingering effects of the Stage 2 crash. For Vingegaard, losing a key mountain domestique so early in the Giro is far from ideal, especially with the race still waiting for its first true high mountain test.

Kelderman had been part of the support structure around the Dane for the coming Italian stages, where positioning, experience and climbing depth will matter more and more. His withdrawal leaves Visma with one fewer option around Vingegaard, at a point in the race where several rival teams have already been forced to redraw their plans.

Vingegaard, though, sounded focused on what had gone right rather than what had been lost. His Stage 2 attack was not only about testing the field. He again framed it as a safety move, designed to reduce exposure before a difficult downhill and technical finale.

“Of course, it would have been nice to take some time,” he said. “But also on the other hand, it was also to play it a bit more safe, to have a smaller bunch going in the downhill, so I succeeded in that as well.”

After a rest and travel day, the Giro resumes in Italy with Stage 4 from Catanzaro to Cosenza. The route includes climbing and a drag towards the finish, but Vingegaard does not expect the general classification riders to turn it into a major test.

“I don't think the GC will take any advantage of it,” he said. “I think it will be more a breakaway or a sprint stage. That's the two options I see, or maybe a reduced bunch sprint, but I don't see the GC guys going for it today.”

That assessment fits the wider tone of Vingegaard’s Giro so far. He has looked alert, strong and willing to move when the situation demands it, but Visma’s priority remains reaching the decisive climbing stages with their leader intact.

Kelderman’s absence is an early complication. Vingegaard’s own form, at least, appears to be one problem Visma do not currently have.