"We have never really seen him fall into a crisis" - Alberto Contador believes Jonas Vingegaard Giro victory is close to inevitable

The 2026 Giro d'Italia has one clear overall favourite in Jonas Vingegaard. Former Corsa Rosa winner Alberto Contador believes that is hard to counter, as the Danish rider has also not shown great signs of fragility in the past.

This can be argued in several ways, but just looking at the numbers would be enough. Since 2021, Vingegaard has finished first or second in ever single Grand Tour he started. Only the Tour de France editions won by Tadej Pogacar; and the 2023 Vuelta where his own teammate Sepp Kuss took the win, weren't crowned with a victory by the Dane himself.

"Only something unexpected: a crash or illness caused by the weather, could change things. He is a very consistent rider, we have never really seen him fall into a crisis," Alberto Contador said to AS.

"When he has lost, it was because Pogacar was better, not because of his own mistakes. Under normal circumstances, it is hard to imagine a very different outcome."

This year's Giro has been marked already by the pre-race withdrawals of GC favourites such as João Almeida and Richard Carapaz.

Vingegaard greatly benefits from that and also the absence of other top GC riders who have deposited their full focus on the Tour de France. UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe aim for success in France, whilst Visma's decision to race the Giro with Vingegaard appears to be the correct one.

Within Visma, there is confidence that combining the Giro and Tour is the best decision also performance wise. In 2024 Tadej Pogacar showed that it was fully viable to race both at one's very best level; whilst in the team itself it is strongly argued that Vingegaard can achieve wattages just as good in a second consecutive Grand Tour.

Contador disagrees with this approach to the Tour. "It won't help him. Modern cycling is heavily dependent on altitude training blocks and arriving at a race fresh". However, Vingegaard will precisely use an altitude camp to prepare for the Tour, with no racing between the two.

"The Giro is an extremely tough race, even if the average level is lower than at the Tour. Physically, it is very demanding. Whether it is an interesting or wise decision is a separate question — winning the Giro and claiming a Grand Tour victory this season is an attractive objective for the team".