"Tour is the most important race": Visma DS doesn't fancy Jonas Vingegaard's ambition to ride the Giro d'Italia

For 2026, it is being widely rumored that Jonas Vingegaard will make his debut at the Giro d'Italia. In fact, the Danish cyclist himself confirmed his desire to try the Corsa Rosa, the only grand tour he is yet to add to his palmarès. However, the Visma | Lease a Bike star needs the approval from his team, which may consider not giving it to him because of the importance they traditionally put on the Tour de France.

In the end, racing the Giro inevitably affects the preparation for the Grande Boucle. The high-intensity three weeks of action just a month before Tour can have serious side effects for whoever would attempt to complete the prized double as well as his palmares. Of course, Tadej Pogacar was able to pull it off in 2024, but the Slovenian is one of a kind and to beat him at Tour, Vingegaard will have to put in every ounce of energy.

In episode 363 of the Besenwagen podcast, Grischa Niermann, Visma's sports director, weighs in on the possibility of Giro participation: "The Tour de France is the most important race and therefore the biggest goal. It's no secret," he says when asked directly about whether the Giro-Tour double is a possibility for Vingegaard.

The 2026 edition of the Tour de France will start with a team time trial, which will kick off three weeks of maximum excitement. But neither that time trial, nor what comes after it, worries Niermann: "It's a format that has worked well for us and that we know. There are always difficult stages, like the Alpe d'Huez. It's not the most spectacular phrase, but it's what you can expect: it's always hard."

Niermann states bluntly that the team's obsession is to regain the yellow that they already won in 2022 and 2023: "Tadej is our biggest rival. We haven't managed to beat him in the last two years, but we'll do everything we can to turn the situation around. It won't be easy, that's for sure."

He recalls that 2023, when Visma won all three Grand Tours with a different rider, was an almost perfect season. But also that rival teams lead by Pogacar were quick to give them a reality-check in 2024: "The following year showed how difficult it was to repeat it. With the crashes of Wout and Jonas, we suffered a lot of setbacks in 2024."

Despite that, he insists that the team must focus on its own strengths: "Sometimes it's frustrating to go up against someone so strong and dominant, but we believe it's possible to beat UAE and Pogacar. They also benefited from our performance in 2022 and 2023."

And he acknowledges that they no longer expect miraculous leaps from their leaders: "Someone like Jonas isn't going to improve by 10% either, but we're still fine-tuning details. It's all trial and error. We can optimize everything, but in the end it's up to the rider to manage it and believe in it.

Niermann also admits that they are keeping a close eye on other teams so as not to fall behind: "We are not five years ahead of anyone. UAE is doing an outstanding job with Pogacar. That's why we remain open to explore new options, just as we did even after a year as good as 2023."

In the market, Visma has opted for a different course than Lidl-Trek, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe or UAE Team Emirates - XRG which have all brought in established names, and even some of them new leaders. Instead, Visma did go for the likes of Timo Kielich, Tim Rex, Pietro Mattio, Davide Piganzoli, Filippo Fiorelli, Bruno Armirail, Anton Schiffer or Owain Doull, focusing on building a strong foundation for their leaders.

Niermann explains it as a conscious gamble: "I met with Patrick Broe [Visma's Head of Strategy], who follows all the races, and we analyzed potential and talent. The ideal is to find 22 or 23-year-old riders who can still grow, like we managed to with Jonas or Sepp Kuss. That's our philosophy."

Although there were exceptions, such as the signing of Simon Yates, he says the general pattern doesn't change: "We signed a star rider and he won the Giro, so that works too. But our vision is based on attracting riders who still have room for development and are a natural fit for our team.

What they are looking for, he concludes, is intuition and fit rather than glitzy names: "Our signings for next year reflect that: riders who go unnoticed, who fit well with the way we work and who, after several conversations, prove to be the perfect fit.