"Visma isn't going to do everything they can" - Analyst thinks Jonas Vingegaard's team won't target decisive Giro stage win
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike are heading into stage 14 as favourites to take the lead at the Giro d'Italia. With a brutal day of climbing on the way to Pila, general classification is set for a shake-up by Saturday evening.
With Afonso Eulalio attempting to defend his pink jersey, Vingegaard and other podium contenders Felix Gall and Thymen Arensman circling in a stage that features multiple steep climbs. Breakaway specialists will also be salivating at the chance to get up the road and fight for stage honours - making it all the more intriguing.
The fight for the breakaway will define how Saturday's stage is raced. Riders immediately hit a 15.7 kilometer climb from kilometer 0 that will mean the best climbers looking to get ahead have a real chance. And in breakaway formation, Team Visma - Lease a Bike have a decision to make.
"They are naturally going to ride at the front right away and set a very tough pace so they don't get attacked," Belgian Eurosport commentator Jeroen Vanbelleghem said on Kop over Kop.
"Gall wants to make up places"
Despite backing the Dutch team to set a hard pace, Vanbellegham believes climbers not a danger to Vingegaard can form a breakaway. He added: "The best climbers who aren't going for the general classification are gone there."
Decathlon CMA CGM and Felix Gall controlled stage 9, which featured a climb to the finish. The Austrian attacked and shuck off all but Vingegaard before the Dane attacked him to win the stage. Vanbelleghem thinks the tactic was effective when considering Gall's focus on the podium.
Vanbelleghem said: "Gall wants to make up places again. If Gall feels good, I think those guys from Decathlon will ride along too. His goal is the podium. People will think: how stupid are they, riding with Visma? But you shouldn't forget that Gall is focused on the podium, not the stage. He isn't riding against Vingegaard, because he knows he is better. If you look at it that way, they are riding well."
Visma isn't going to do everything
When it comes to Vingegaard's stage ambitions, the commentator doesn't believe that Team Visma | Lease a Bike will go all-in for the stage, claiming that they could be happy to allow other teams to carry the burden of controlling the day - which too could also increase Vingegaard's chances.
"Vingegaard actually wants to win, I think, but Visma isn't going to do everything they can to make that happen," Vanbelleghem said.
Read also
He added: "There will be other teams that want to do that. I don't think it depends on Visma whether they will win the stage. We saw that at Corno alle Scale [Stage 9], when Decathlon ensured that Visma could win the stage. I see that happening again on Saturday."
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.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
Loading
2 Comments