Visma's new top climber impresses the higher-ups - "For such a young guy, he did an amazing job"

Team Visma | Lease a Bike have been tasked with controlling the mountains of the Giro d'Italia, as they have in their lineup the uncontested favourite Jonas Vingegaard. Hence, the responsibility for his domestiques is high, and not something every rider can handle perfectly. However, in the first week of the Corsa Rosa, Davide Piganzoli has been thriving in his new role.

The former Polti rider was part of Visma's modest and innovative signings campaign this winter, which features several riders from ProTeams that had already shown their talent but were not termed 'supertalents'. The 23-year old was brought in to Visma and in his maiden season, there was a clear plan for him to build towards the Giro d'Italia, where he had finished in the Top15 over the past two editions.

The Italian talked good of his numbers early in the season, but he had to withdraw from Paris-Nice prematurely, where he first teamed up with Jonas Vingegaard. At the Volta a Catalunya, his presence was more notable, and he proved he was up for the task - and with a certain degree of importance.

With the withdrawal of Wilco Kelderman due to the stage 2 crash, his role in Visma's Giro team is even more important, as the team lack the climbing firepower they started with. But on stage 2, immediately it was Piganzoli who took up the pace in the peloton on the final climb before the finale into Veliko Tarnovo - and launched Jonas Vingegaard's first attack in this Giro.

Now, on Friday's summit finish to Blockhaus, his work was just as impressive. He pushed the pace for several kilometers in the climb's first half, thinning the group down to around a dozen riders before Sepp Kuss briefly took up the pace. The American was already at the limit and was only in front shortly before Jonas Vingegaard himself attacked.

The team fulfilled its mission with the Dane taking the stage win; Both Piganzoli and Kuss finished the stage alongside pink jersey Afonso Eulálio whom they had dropped earlier - both remain in secondary GC spots, whilst also putting the team high up on the team's classification.

Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard's loyal right-hand man who has been guiding him in the mountains for many years, praised Piganzoli in a post-race interivew with Eurosport.

“Davide is a great climber and a great guy. I shared a room with him for three weeks at training camp. We laughed a lot together. It is great to have him in the team," the American said.

The two are likely to be the riders with the most responsibility over the coming weeks when it comes to safeguarding the Dane over the Giro's mountains. It is expected that Vingegaard will take the leader's jersey at some point which will give Visma an added responsibility. But whether to protect or launch his attacks, the likes of Kuss and Piganzoli will always have to be at their best level.

But with the evolution Piganzoli is showing in his first year with Visma, Kuss definitely anticipates a rise through the team's ranks. “If he continues like this and keeps enjoying it, he can become a great rider. For such a young guy, he did an amazing job," he concluded.