Jonas Vingegaard said that he was lucky to only break his collarbone in the crash that took him out of the Tour de France, as he abandoned the race for the first time.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, a two-time winner of the race, crashed on an innocuous bend on stage 15 of the race on Sunday, depriving the Tour of the man in second place.

He was taken away in an ambulance for an X-ray, which confirmed that he had fractured his collarbone, and that he will need surgery.

"It's going surprisingly well," he told Danish TV station TV2 later. "It's of course very disappointing for us to end up like this, and for the Tour to end like this. But that's how cycling is. Luckily, it's only a broken collarbone.

"Of course it's a huge shame. We're disappointed, and I just hope the boys can now focus next week and hopefully win a stage or two.

"I just talked to my family a little bit. That was the most important thing for me. We've come up with a plan for what's going to happen now, and I've talked to some of the team. It's no use hanging your head. It just makes it worse."

On Sunday evening, Visma-Lease a Bike reasoned that the crash might have happened because of the line the lead motorbike took through the corner.

"We maybe came into this roundabout a little too fast, and then my front wheel just slips. I can't do anything," Vingegaard said. "That's how cycling races are sometimes. It's just super annoying for us, to be honest.

"Maybe the motorcycle makes a mistake, but we can't trust the motorcycles. We have to have our own judgment," Vingegaard continued. "People make mistakes, and we can't change that now."

In his yellow jersey press conference, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) suggested that part of the reason for the crash could be that Vingegaard was woken at 2am by anti-doping testers.

"It is clear that it has not done anything good for it, you could say. Whether that is the reason, I dare not speculate. It may well have done something. I should not be able to say that," Vingegaard replied, however.

"I don't want to blame it on that, because it's a bicycle race, and crashes happen in bicycle races. So I don't dare answer that."

The body responsible for anti-doping in cycling has defended the nighttime tests carried out on Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, saying they are part of "effective testing".

On Sunday morning, ahead of stage 15, the pair were awoken – Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG at 5am and Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike at 2am – by testers from the International Testing Agency (ITA).

The UCI's anti-doping rules, Article 5.2, reads: "Unless the rider has identified a sixty minute testing window between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or has otherwise consented to testing during that period, the UCI will not test a rider during that period unless it has a serious and specific suspicion that the Rider may be engaged in doping."

A spokesperson for the ITA confirmed the unusual tests on Sunday evening, and defended the decision to test in the night, after it was criticised by Pogačar, Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Pogačar said he accepted the tests if they were necessary.

Evenepoel, the winner of stage 15, said: "It's pretty disrespectful. To be honest, if I had it, I would send my team to wake them up to feel how it is. It's something inhuman, it's something that we should not accept as athletes."

Vingegaard crashed out of the stage following the nighttime test, which Pogačar suggested was partly caused by the disturbed rest. He said: "In my interview with France TV, it got me thinking that it could be also like a small percentage why he crashed because he probably didn't sleep good today."

A spokesperson for the ITA said: "The International Testing Agency (ITA) has been entrusted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to implement its anti-doping program in an independent manner since 2021. The ITA can confirm that anti-doping controls were conducted overnight involving riders participating in the Tour de France.

"The ITA is conscious that night-time testing may be disruptive to riders' rest and recovery. Due consideration has therefore been given to minimise as much as possible the impact testing activities have on riders.

"However, the ITA, on behalf of the UCI, has the responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the cycling anti-doping program and the integrity of cycling races. As such, effective testing must, in limited and justified circumstances, be capable to occur outside standard daytime hours.

"All testing activities conducted at the Tour de France and at any other international events, including decisions as to the specific timing of such tests, are carried out in accordance with the ITA’s testing strategy and subject to the safeguards established under the World Anti-Doping Code, the UCI Anti-Doping Rules and French law, with due consideration for riders’ welfare, equity and fundamental rights."

Visma-Lease a Bike have no plan B at the Tour de France. The Dutch team were all in on Jonas Vingegaard, supporting the Dane towards the dream of winning the Tour and Giro d'Italia in the same season.

Sadly, that dream is now over, with Vingegaard crashing out on stage 15 of the race, and breaking his collarbone. It has deprived the race of a key character, the only rider who has ever beaten yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar at the Tour overall.

"What is there to say?" His teammate Matteo Jorgenson said at the top of the Plateau du Solaison after the stage. "I don't have much other than it's gutting. We're on stage 15, we had no Plan B. We were all in with Jonas, we all believed in it, and I thought it was beautiful. Today was going really well, he was on a really good day I think, and bike racing sucks some times, it really does."

Visma sports director Marc Reef, at the bottom of the climb outside his team bus, added: "We went through a corner, I also didn't have a good picture on TV, we came around the corner in the car and he was laying there. It's unfortunately really shit that this happened and he had to abandon. He's gone to the X-Ray van now to see how he is. I said that I felt sorry for him at that moment, and it was quite quickly clear that he could not continue. He said he had pain, but there's almost not much you say at that moment.

"They put him in an ambulance and then he left. We had a big goal today to try and win the stage, everything went according to plan until the moment he crashed. We planned this morning with two riders ahead, with the situation under control, with him feeling really, really good. The situation was under control, the time gap was under control, and we were ready to go for it."

Asked if it the road where the incident happened was dangerous, Jorgenson replied: "It didn't seem like it, the motorbike double checked in the corner and took the left side of this traffic island, Victor [Campenaerts] was following his line, and it was definitely not the smooth line to the right, we ended up braking, and I'm sure there was a ripple effect, and I'm sure he crossed wheels or hit...

"As often happens in this sport you have a plan, you're in good shape, these things happen, and they're hard to accept, but they have to be accepted."

Until the crash, everything had been going well enough on Sunday. They might have been four minutes behind Pogačar on general classification, but they were still challenging. Now they will have to reset on the fly, easier said that done 15 stages into the toughest bike race of all.

"We have a different Tour now, but I'm at least going to think about what happened today, check in with Jonas tonight, and then we will take the rest day and think about the rest of the Tour," Jorgenson explained. "It's difficult to put into words, but it's our whole life. We spend most of the year on top of a mountain, training, weighing all our food.

"You do everything, you come to the Tour, you do 15 stages, and do everything pretty well, and we're in a good position, and it's a mental job to try and accept these things. It happens to everyone, crashing and losing your goal, but every time you have to take a beat and say this is a special sport, for sure."

Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), for his part, said: "It was really dangerous there in the town, and I'm really disappointed and sad that he's going home. The Tour will not be the same without him. We've been battling in the Tour since 2021, and I hope he can recover well.

"If I'm not wrong, he broke his collarbone, I hope he can recover fast and I will see him soon. I hope he's not too down from it and he will go on nice holidays after this, like we spoke a few days ago."

Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour de France on stage 15 on Sunday, while he was riding in second place. It was confirmed later that he broke his collarbone.

The Dane was the first rider to slide out on a corner on the way approach the stage’s final hors category climb. He remained on the floor clutching his shoulder and clearly in some pain, and was taken away in an ambulance.

Several other riders also came down in the crash including some of Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team-mates.

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), a key domestique for yellow-jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar and a challenger for the white jersey, was also brought down in the crash. All the riders other than Vingegaard were able to remount their bikes and rejoin the race.

The day had been marked by the Dane’s team leading the bunch and working hard in what appeared to be an attempt to set up Vignegaard for an attack on the climb to the finish at the summit of Plateau de Solaison.

Replays appeared to show Vingegaard clipping the kerb in a turn and falling onto it.

A Visma-Lease a Bike spokesperson said: "Following a crash in Stage 15 of the Tour de France, Jonas sustained a fractured collarbone and multiple abrasions. Due to the severity of the collarbone fracture, surgical intervention has been recommended and will be performed in the coming days."

It caps what had already been a difficult day for the two-time Tour de France champion after he was woken at 2am this morning to give samples to doping control officers.

The Dane was aiming to become just the second person this century to win both the Tour and Giro d’Italia in the same year, after his long-time rival did the double in 2024.

This is the second crash Vingegaard has suffered this year after he sustained facial injuries in a crash at a training camp in January.

He recovered and cruised to Giro victory in May before starting the Tour earlier this month.

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard were both awoken in the middle of the night ahead of stage 15 of the Tour de France by anti-doping testers, it was revealed on Sunday.

The pair, first and second on general classification at the race, had their sleep interrupted by officials from the International Testing Agency (ITA) overnight between the mountain stages in the Vosges on stage 14, and the Jura and Alps on stage 15, it was revealed by Le Parisien.

The news was later confirmed by their teams, UAE Team Emirates-XRG for Pogačar and Visma-Lease a Bike for Vingegaard and the pair talked about it with Eurosport at the start of stage 15 in Champagnole. The pair appear to be the only riders tested in such a way.

A spokesperson for the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed the tests. The race leader is subject to a test every day post-stage, along with a targeted selection of other riders; they can also face other tests through the Tour.

Since 2016, it has been permitted for anti-doping tests to take place between 11pm and 6am, but it remains very unusual. Pre-race, the ITA said it would aim to conduct around 600 tests during the Tour.

"I got four hours of sleep today," Pogačar said. "They were [at my door at] 5am in the morning. I always sleep late, it was a big shock for me to get four hours of sleep.

"I had a cool, long morning because I couldn't fall back to sleep. I was chilling, listening to some old Eminem hits, and making coffees, so I'm overcaffeinated and ready to start the day. It was definitely not nice to be woken up in the middle of sweet dreams."

Asked about the post-stage testing he undergoes daily the yellow jersey-wearer added: "There's a chaperone following you, and then you go to control, you do that. They also come randomly in the mornings through the Tour, and today they chose night time. I feel sorry for the guys that are doing the control, I can imagine that some riders get upset and angry with them, but it's not their fault. It's the bosses. The guys doing the control are just doing their jobs."

Vingegaard said, who was also tested overnight, said: "I guess the ITA didn't allow me to sleep much. I was sleeping very well but then somebody knocked on my door at 2am which was a surprise to me.

"Of course it's good that they test, but when it's affecting performance and your sleep, I don't think it's so good. Hopefully, I'm not the only one. It has to be equal for everybody I think. It's not the nicest at 2am.

"I think it took me about 40 minutes before I was back in my room, so it was not the best night. I still feel ok, but just not the best night. I cannot change it, but that's part of it I guess."

The more Tadej Pogačar wins, the further Jonas Vingegaard slips back.

On stage 14 of the Tour de France, the defending champion increased his lead to 4:30 over Vingegaard, and there’s still a whole week of racing to go. The destination of the yellow jersey seems all but certain.

Vingegaard finished fourth on the stage to Le Markstein, 44 seconds adrift of Pogačar, but lost six seconds to his fellow podium contenders Isaac Del Toro and Paul Seixas. Four stages earlier, at Le Lioran, Vingegaard lost by the same amount of time to Pogačar, and also ceded time to five of his podium rivals.

In the past five editions of the Tour, with the exception of Pogačar in 2021 and the last two years, Vingegaard has always been a cut above the rest of the field; Not this Tour he’s not, though.

The Dane is no longer in a battle for yellow, but instead in a fight to remain in the top-three. After two-thirds of racing, he has 34 seconds on Remco Evenepoel in third, with Seixas a further 15 seconds back.

Yet rather than change tact and concentrate on securing a sixth successive top-two spot, Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates are still adamant that the 29-year-old can challenge runaway leader Pogačar.

“It was not a bad stage,” Vingegaard said. “I got some answers about myself. My legs are where they want them to be, so I’m happy with what the team did today.”

His chief mountain domestique, Sepp Kuss, equally refused to be defeated. “Jonas did his best to hang on and limit the damage, but Pogačar was super strong today,” the American said.

“We’re still going with the mindset that we want to win. It may seem further and further away the more time he puts into us, but I think that’s the best mindset to have when it gets hard.

“When you start doubting yourself you have to have the mindset of trying to win. For the team and for Jonas himself, having won the Tour twice, that’s the mindset he needs to have.

“It was a hard day, but we gave it our best. We will keep fighting until the end.”

Vingegaard went into the Tour on the back of cruising to a convincing victory at the Giro d’Italia. He said in Italy and before the Tour started that he was in career-best shape, but in the Tour’s four mountain stages so far he has been unable to stick to Pogačar’s wheel when he has attacked. Rather than the gap between the pair closing, it has only increased.

Still, though, Visma are projecting optimism. “I think Jonas would have preferred to be with Pogačar,” Kuss recognised. “He’s riding super solid and not showing any weakness. But Jonas is super consistent, and will only get better.”

Stage 15 finishes up an even harder climb – the HC ascent of Plateau de Solaison. Rationality dictates that Pogačar will only add to his advantage. “It's a brutal last climb [tomorrow],” Kuss said. “And after the efforts of today, it'll be even more decisive I think.”

Maybe then Vingegaard will accept that he needs to focus on defending second.

Jonas Vingegaard finished seventh on stage 10 of the 2026 Tour de France, 44 seconds behind Tadej Pogačar, who won in Le Lioran. The former now lies 3:36 behind the latter overall, in second place. The Dane also lost at least 10 seconds to Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz, and a few to Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose.

This was not a good day for Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard. It might not have been the kind of stage that perfectly suited him, with a series of short, sharp climbs in the Massif Central, but he already could not afford to be losing more time at this year's Tour, and he did. It was telling that defeat came two years on from when Vingegaard beat Pogačar on the same finish line. Then, the race felt alive. Now, it feels almost over.

And yet, the message that Visma-Lease a Bike gave out post-stage was not one of despondency, or shifting goals – it was an attempt to be positive, to look for the light. Of course, they could hardly declare the race over, or show too much weakness, but on a day when Pogačar crushed all again, the message felt out of place.

To the viewers, to the fans, the reality feels clear: barring accident, injury or illness, Pogačar will win this Tour de France. To pretend otherwise feels fantastical. But Visma-Lease a Bike are refusing to totally surrender hope.

"In the end, I think it was not too bad of a day," Vingegaard said post-stage. "Shorter climbs like this never suit me the best, so obviously, I had to fight today. To come away with a smaller loss like this is something I can be happy with."

He added: "I think my legs are getting better and better, and all the long climbs are coming."

The words were slightly different to the mood, with Vingegaard not seeming loquacious, looking pensive as he warmed down on his time trial bike outside the Visma team bus. His answer to a simple, soft-ball question of "what's next" was terse: "I'm going to sleep tonight and there's a stage tomorrow."

Vingegaard, the Giro d'Italia winner, does still sit second overall, and perhaps not losing too much time is something to be happy with, but these do not feel like the words of a relentless winner. Evenepoel is now just 30 seconds behind, lurking.

"It was a very hard day," Marc Reef, the Visma-Lease a Bike sports director, said post-stage. "Jonas did a great job, he fought all the way to the line, but Pogačar was stronger. We did not see it [the attack], we heard it, and the next moment we heard something was that there was a time gap to Jonas. From that moment on, we tried to motivate him, he's been in this situation before in this stage two years ago. All the rest stayed in his wheel, and we knew that they could work together to close the gap.

"On the last climb, the gap increased again and it was difficult to come. I think the others are riding for the podium, and that's their decision. We are here to win and that's why we motivated Jonas to keep fighting to the line, and that's what he did. No regrets.

"At this moment Pogačar is a lot stronger and big congrats to him, but we're not in Paris yet and we'll keep fighting," he added. Asked if the team should be looking up, not down towards other threats to second place, Reef said: "It's too early to say something about that now."

Sepp Kuss, one of Vinegaard's key lieutenants, did sound more realistic, however. Asked if he could see a way through Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the American said: "At the moment, no. They were riding incredibly strong and they have the strongest rider too. So we just have to keep trying and stick to our plan and stick to our strengths and see if things come out for us on the stages that suit us."

Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike cannot come out and give up in their fight against Pogačar. However, with the battle only heading one way, and 11 stages still to come, how much longer can they say they are fighting for yellow with a straight face? We might know by the end of the week.

Tadej Pogačar sprang to victory on stage three of the Tour de France on Monday, taking the yellow jersey in the process.

Launched across the finish line by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, and yesterday’s stage winner Isaac del Toro, Pogačar took an impressive win on the ascent to Les Angles, securing a two-second gap over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) The two GC rivals are now level, but as a result of count back, Pogačar now has the race lead and the maillot jaune.

Richard Carapaz took third place on a day when his EF Education–EasyPost teammate Alex Baudin led a spirited breakaway and took the KOM jersey.

During his post-ride interview, Pogačar was effusively complimentary about Del Toro, who put another massively impressive ride on a tough, long, hot and hilly stage.

"It’s because of him, it’s because of Isaac today, I got some extra power I think in the final," said the Slovenia. "He committed more than 100% in the final climb, all the team actually. In the middle of the stage we decided that it’s possible to go for the stage win, and I’m really happy that we start the Tour like this. An incredible finish today.

"If we can win like we won today, and the team feels super good, then we have to take the opportunity. We tried, we gave it all, and we won.

"To take the yellow jersey is a dream for any cyclist, of any age. For me, I don’t know which time already, but every time I can get it is really special. I don’t know for how long this will last, but we try to enjoy every moment."

On a day when most people expected a breakaway to prevail, it came down instead to a battle between the GC contenders during the final 10km, with very few spectators as the stage finished in France, but in an 'exceptional format', due to soaring heat and the heightened risk of wildfires.

The second-longest stage of this year's Tour had a tough and challenging parkour – not a mountain stage, but relentlessly lumpy, with lots of long climbs and a total of 3940 metres of altitude gain across the day, including an uphill finish.

The first third of the stage was ridden at a frenetic pace, with average speeds of 43km per hour despite the lumpy terrain and temperatures in the mid to late 30 degrees celsius. An early crash on the first climb took down multiple riders and left Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease-a-bike) with a visibly injured right knee and a broken shoe.

With 125km to go, after one-and-a-half hours of relentless riding, the race seemed to settle and then 19 riders made a move. Of this group, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) was best placed, with decent position in the GC and a vaguely realistic chance of moving into yellow if he could get the right support from riders around him.

Visma-Lease a Bike appeared almost content to let go of the yellow jersey for a stage and sat back, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG soon capitalised, significantly stepping up the pace and chasing the advance group down. The breakaway failed to establish enough of a gap and it was soon whittled down to six riders, with Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), George Bennett (NSN Cycling), Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) hanging in with Baudin.

Baudin mounted an attack during the second-last climb of day – the relatively gentle, but long, ascent of the Col du Calvaire, and fellow Frenchman Nicolas Prodhomme stuck with him. Baudin took the points at the top of the climb, and with it the KOM jersey, and stayed doggedly ahead of the peloton until 11.5km to go, but the UAE-led peloton was always going to reel him in.

This set the scene for an exciting finish, with all the GC contenders in the mix as the pack entered the final kilometre. Having seized control of the race, UAE Team Emirates-XRG were in a commanding position, and Del Toro launched Pogačar into the pole spot with 500 metres to go.

Results

Tour de France stage three: Granollers › Les Angles (195.9km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:45:11
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2s
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, both at same time
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +4s
6. Lennert Van Eeetvelt (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
9. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
10. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 8:46:55
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +23s
4. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +24s
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +27s
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +48s
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +53s
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:09
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:11
10. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:17

When Jonas Vingegaard took the first yellow jersey of the 2026 Tour de France yesterday, he swore he would cherish every moment in it. But on stage two's uphill finish to Montjuic, as Tadej Pogačar and Isaac Del Toro unleashed a double-fronted charge to the line, prising open a small gap to the maillot jaune as they did so, it was hard to wonder if this was it. Was the Dane's tenure in cycling's most revered garment already at an end?

But Vingegaard held the gap to less than a second and, despite the UAE Team Emirates-XRG pair taking a one-two that seemed to delight Pogačar as much as it did his young teammate, the jersey remained the property of Visma-Lease a Bike for another day. With bonus seconds factored in though, Vingegaard's 12 second lead to Pogačar was cut to six.

Speaking after the race, Vingegaard reiterated the pledge he made yesterday – one made in mind of the apparent epiphany that followed his serious crash at Itzulia Basque Country two years ago.

"It ended up being a GC stage, a hard stage, and it's not my favourite kind of climb, so to keep the yellow jersey is something that I'm actually happy with," he said. "So, yeah, I get another day in the jersey, and it's something that I can definitely be happy with.

"As I said yesterday, I'll enjoy every day, because you never know what happens in life – as I said, it's not a given."

When asked whether he expected to be able to follow Pogačar more closely, he defended his performance, saying: "I followed him on the climb, and on the last sprint. It's very anaerobic, and that's not my strength, so, to be honest, I can be happy with how it played out."

Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Marc Reef echoed those particular remarks, insisting that Pogačar outsprinting Vingegaard was not unexpected.

"It was just a sprint from the corner, and everybody was on the limit, I think," he said. "It was just a small gap in the sprint. [Vingegaard] is less explosive than the others are, so yeah, there's not much more than that."

With Pogačar gathering a six-second time bonus courtesy of his second place, he cut his deficit to the Dane to a scant six – a tenuous advantage that was acknowledged by Vingegaard: "It's not a big lead, it's still more or less the same, so I don't think it changes our approach much," he said.

Reef expanded on that "approach", saying there was no plan to hang on too tightly to yellow, at least for the moment.

"It's just getting Jonas through the stages in a good way," he said. "Also, tomorrow it's a finish of 1.5 kilometres where it is also around 7%. I think that is also something where we'll see contenders battle, and we will see if [he keeps it] or not, but that's actually not really the goal. It's just important to stay in contention, and that is something that we did today."

One thousand and seventy seven days. That's how much time has passed since Jonas Vingegaard last wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. But when he finally tried it on for size again in Barcelona on Saturday evening, after leading Visma-Lease a Bike to victory in the stage one team time trial, he found it still fitted him just fine.

Vingegaard stormed through the finish with eight seconds in hand over second-placed Filippo Ganna of Netcompany-Ineos, after his team pulled off a near-flawless TTT masterclass. Above all, though, he triumphed over Tadej Pogačar, his Tour de France nemesis and the defending champion that many consider near-unbeatable.

Vingegaard has worn yellow before – he is a double Tour winner, don't forget – but it was clear that this jersey meant as much to him as it has ever done, and maybe more.

Describing it as a "dream come true", he said: "Being back in the yellow jersey is for me the most important. I'm just extremely happy, it's something I dreamt of for the last three years.

"It's a dream for everyone in cycling, I think, and just to be wearing this jersey is something special, and I will enjoy every moment in it."

Much has happened in Vingegaard's career during those 1,077 days since he last wore it in Paris at the end of the 2023 Tour de France. Perhaps most significantly, a massive crash at Itzulia Basque Country in early 2024, which left him badly injured and, in the immediate aftermath, believing he might die. Being able to wear the maillot jaune once again, he said, provided a certain level of closure.

"I've struggled at times in the last few years," he told journalists, "[but] now I feel like I can close this chapter in the book, if you can say it. Of course, it will always be a part of my book, laying there on the ground, believing that I'm going to die. And then coming from that to this point is also for me a bit emotional."

Much as wearing yellow once more was a huge moment for Vingegaard, it wasn't won in a straight fight between himself and Pogačar. Both riders were beholden to their team's abilities against the clock, and while Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad were 13 seconds behind come the third and final time check, when both riders were unleashed up the final climb of Montjuïc, it was the Slovenian who prevailed. He was three seconds quicker than Vingegaard's 1:26 and hence will wear the polka dots on stage two.

Vingegaard was acutely aware, he said, that his stage one victory was only the very beginning of a long three weeks. He is now a expecting a hard fight that will begin almost straight away.

"I think the next stage will already be very hard," he said. "I think it's just gonna be, from now on, fighting every single day to do the best possible, to be honest."

Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Marc Reef emphasised that the team's underlying goal was yellow in Paris, and that Vingegaard would not necessarily attempt to keep it in the immediate future.

"[Paris] is the goal; it's not the goal to directly keep it, but of course when the chance is there it's OK," he said. "And of course tomorrow we have immediately another explosive stage; stage three is another explosive stage with an uphill finish… We'll see day by day – we're happy with the situation we're in. We have a small gap over our opponents but in the first place we're happy with this win."

Jonas Vingegaard has played down suggestions of fatigue after winning the Giro d’Italia, declaring himself fitter, stronger and happier as he attempts to win a third Tour de France.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider cruised to the Giro title in May without serious opposition, in doing so becoming only the eighth man in history – and first since the now-retired Chris Froome in 2018 – to win all three Grand Tours.

Now the Dane, 29, is aiming to deny his eternal rival Tadej Pogačar a fifth and third successive Tour de France title in what is set to be the duo’s latest ding-dong battle.

Speaking to press in Barcelona before the start of the 113th Tour, Vingegaard was asked about the physical and mental toll of riding the Giro before the Tour. “Without taking anything away from anyone at the Giro, it is true that I did not have to completely kill myself [to win the race]. I didn’t come out of the Giro completely on my knees,” he said.

Vingegaard won all five mountain-top stages at the Italian race and his closest challenger, Felix Gall, finished more than five minutes adrift of him in the general classification. It was, in reality, a procession for the rider who also won the Vuelta a España last September.

“That means you can recover faster afterwards and start your training and get into a good rhythm quicker. If you are on your knees after the Giro, you need two weeks, maybe even more, to recover," Vingegaard added.

“Then it is hard to start building towards the Tour because then the Tour is already coming. For me at least, I came out of the Giro in a good way and pretty quickly I could start building towards the Tour de France.”

Pogačar, in 2024, was the last rider to win the Giro and Tour in the same year, the Slovenian becoming the first rider to do so since Marco Pantani in 1998.

The 26-year stretch without a double winner led many commentators and riders to dub it the near-impossible task. Vingegaard is hoping to add his name to the short roll call of successors.

“We tried something new [in going for the Giro-Tour double], which was also the plan, because I think we realised after last year that it was not really so enjoyable to do what we did every year,” Vingegaard said.

“So now we tried to mix it up with the preparation for the Tour, and it has been going really well this year.

“I think I’m ready for this race and I am really looking forward to it. It has been an amazing year for me so far and I am looking forward to it hopefully continuing,”

Vingegaard and his Visma team have repeatedly said in the past few months that he is in better shape than ever before, and it was a message that the rider himself repeated.

“I’m both better and stronger,” he said. “I would even say I’m happier in a mental state also; I’m in a very good place. I’ve had a very good year so far. I’ve enjoyed riding a bit more this year than I did last year.

“I’ve had a very good season so far already with the three races I’ve done” – he also won Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya – “and of course it takes some pressure off me and off the team.

“But the Tour de France is still the biggest race. It is still the race you really want to win. I’m not saying that I’m not happy with what I’ve already won this year because I am extremely happy, especially also winning the Giro d’Italia title and now having won all three Grand Tours.

“But again, the Tour de France is just the biggest race of the year and I’m here to go for the victory.”

Visma-Lease a Bike have named the seven riders that will join Jonas Vingegaard in the team at the Tour de France next week.

Victor Campenaerts, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Bruno Armirail and Davide Piganzoli will all support the Dane as he starts his bid for a third yellow jersey in Barcelona on 4 July.

Wout van Aert, the 10-time Tour stage winner, will be absent from the race for the first time in eight years due to an elbow injury. The Belgian crashed in training earlier this month and, despite racing and winning a stage at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, has since developed an infection in his elbow wound, the team announced last week.

Visma-Lease a Bike presented their eight-rider Tour squad on Tuesday with a YouTube live stream from their performance centre in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. None of the riders were present, as most are on a training camp in the French Alps.

Asked about the team's goal for the Tour, lead race coach Marc Reef said: "It's very obvious, I think, especially when you have Jonas: we want to win the Tour de France."

Vingegaard is expected to be the main challenger to defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at this year's Tour. The two riders have shared the last six yellow jerseys between them; Vingegaard won in 2022 and 2023, and placed second in 2021, 2024 and 2025 to Pogačar, who also won in 2020.

"I have a lot of belief in myself, and that also gives the other guys belief," Vingegaard said. "They really believe in the plan we have and believe that it's possible to win the Tour de France again. It's now three years ago I won it the last time, and ever since it's been a big goal for me."

Earlier this year, Vingegaard completed the Grand Tour trilogy when he won the Giro d'Italia by a convincing margin of more than five minutes.

The 29-year-old also won five stages at the race, adding to previous victories at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya, in what has been his most prolific season start to date.

As their usual yellow clashes with the leader's jersey, Visma-Lease a Bike will wear a limited edition black kit called 'The Architect' at the Tour, inspired by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.

The Tour de France starts with a team time trial in Barcelona on 4 July, and runs to its Paris finale on 26 July.

Just like that, in a whir of freewheels and a flash of pink, the Giro d'Italia is over for another year. It crowned new champions in various classifications, some more unexpected than others, and yielded some hard-fought, heart-in-mouth stages in the beguiling scenery that the race has become known for.

Ushered in for the first time via a Bulgarian grande partenza, the 'firsts' began straight away, and only continued as the race made its way up the boot of Italy, pinballing from coast to coast before taking riders over the mountains in the north.

In Rome, after the dust had settled on the final stage, there was one brand new champion and at least one new star. And then there were the hopefuls for whom the race had not worked out as it might have – including one who joked that he'd be burning his race numbers and jerseys in an attempt to erase it from memory.

For a multitude of teams it was also a race to forget – or at least move on from: only nine came away with stage wins.

Let's take a look at the hits and misses of the Giro d'italia 2026.

THE HITS

Jonas Vingegaard (overall winner)

Few fans were in any doubt of Jonas Vingegaard's credentials as one of the best bike racers in the world, and he certainly didn't need the Giro d'Italia to validate that. But that status has, for around two-and-a-half seasons now, come with a Tadej-Pogačar-shaped caveat: the Slovenian, goes the narrative, is another level up from the diminutive Dane.

With his Giro d'Italia victory though, not to mention an already-impressive start to 2026, Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard is starting to edit that story in his favour. He won the Vuelta a España last August, but the Giro d'Italia is more prestigious and the win has the added and well publicised bonus of making Vingegaard only the eighth male rider to have won all three Grand Tours. Before Pogačar too, who has yet to win the Vuelta.

Vingegaard's Italian expedition appeared lukewarm to begin with. The absolute favourite, he began taking solo victories in the mountains as soon as they began, on stage seven to Blockhaus. But he wasn't quite as far ahead of his closest rival (Felix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM, who finished second in Rome), as onlookers might have expected.

But Vingegaard's condition seemed to hone itself to a sharper edge as the race continued, while his rivals found theirs became blunted or fell away entirely (he was only 13 seconds ahead of Gall at Blockhaus, but a full 1:15 ahead on his final summit win on stage 20 to Piancavallo).

At the final count in Rome, the Dane had won five stages (all summit finishes) and the overall by a healthy 5:22.

Post-stage in the Italian capital Vingegaard said the win had left him "lost for words", so team boss Richard Plugge took up the baton, sending an ominous message to Pogačar et al: "… Jonas is getting even stronger after this," the Dutchman said. "We planned it so that he’ll be at his peak at the Tour de France. We are looking forward to that fight.”

Paul Magnier (points jersey winner)

In a race with so few obvious sprinting opportunities, it was perhaps a surprise to find such an intriguing narrative to emerge from the fast-finishing stages.

France's Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), still just 22, is hardly an unknown, but he hasn't been considered on quite the same level as Grand Tour success stories like Jasper Philipsen, Biniam Girmay and Jonathan Milan. Until now, that is, because now Magnier has his own Grand Tour success story to tell.

Going into this Giro d'Italia, all eyes were on home rider Milan (Lidl-Trek), a previous winner of the ciclamino points jersey on two previous occasions.

However, he found many of his sprinting intentions thwarted by the upstart Magnier, who won not only the first stage but also pulled on the first maglia rosa of the race.

He became the sprinting sensation of the race, winning a further two stages and wearing the points jersey nearly every day. An unfamiliar 11th place in Rome after he found himself boxed in – with Milan finally getting his stage – won't take the sheen off a Giro that has well and truly announced Magnier to the world.

Afonso Eulálio (best young rider)

Every Grand Tour has the potential to make a star of a hitherto little known rider. Recent editions of the Giro d'Italia have selected Derek Gee, João Almeida and Ben Healy – this year it was the Bahrain Victorious rider Afonso Eulálio.

The story was a familiar one: rider finds himself in the race leader's jersey; rider thrives in the spotlight and finds abilities he didn't realise he had in the struggle to hang on to the jersey, and in doing so wins fans over.

Eulálio, 24, might have previously flitted across the consciousness of British fans thanks to his sixth overall at last year's Tour of Britain. But for most, their first encounter with the Portuguese rider would have been his memorable second place behind Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on stage five in the Giro – a day that was marked by crashes and wrong turns of almost farcical proportions.

The maglia rosa was the consolation prize, but one that few expected him to wear beyond the Blockhaus stage two days later.

However, Eulálio held on to it that day. And the next, and the next. In fact, he ultimately grimaced and ground his way through a further eight stages resplendent in pink. But once Vingegaard had inevitably lifted it from his shoulders, there was no dramatic capitulation. Instead Eulálio kept riding with the front runners like he had always belonged there, only ceding time in dribs and drabs, and even attacking spontaneously when he sensed there was an advantage to be had.

By the time the race reached Rome, Eulálio was still sixth overall and had won the young rider's jersey – and fans' hearts.

...AND THE MISSES

Giulio Pellizzari (21st overall)

A week before the Giro d'Italia began in Bulgaria (remember that?) Giulio Pellizzari won the Tour of the Alps, at a canter, with aplomb. The young Italian hotshot was ready, his Red Bell-Bora-hansgrohe team said at the time, to challenge for the podium at the Giro d'Italia.

However, it became clear early on that Pellizzari was no longer on sparkling form. What was happening, we wondered. Were his Alpine exertions exactly a toll? The answer, it transpired, was that he'd been struck by a bug – one ended up plaguing him for much of the race.

He slipped slowly out of GC contention and finished, ultimately, in 21st place. His participation was hardly a wasted one though – as well as gaining great experience in what it is like to keep fighting when the cause is lost, he turned in some valuable domestique duty in the final mountain days.

All the same, speaking afterwards, he said he was glad the "ordeal" was over. "I don’t want to keep a single memory of this Giro. I’m going to burn all the race numbers and all the jerseys," he joked. "After that, we’ll think about the next race.”

Egan Bernal (10th overall)

Another rider who had shown promise during the Tour of the Alps in late April, the former Tour de France winner was to form part of a two-pronged GC approach at the Giro d'Italia, alongside Netcompany-Ineos teammate Thymen Arensman.

At the Tour of the Alps, there was even talk of Bernal finally refinding his Tour-winning form from seven years ago, after a long road back from a training crash in early 2022. Perhaps he has, but if that is the case, it would appear cycling has moved on: a promising start at the Giro d'Italia gave way to a gradual time bleed that saw him drop into the mid-teens on GC.

Late in the race the Colombian looked to have discovered a second wind, and his distinctive blue, yellow and red national champion's jersey could often be seen marshalling Arensman in and around the favourites' group on various mountain stages.

He managed creditable seventh and sixth place finishes on stage 16 and 20 respectively, boosting him to a final 10th on GC in Rome.

As misses go, it was far less wide of the mark than it could have been, but Bernal's lack of mid-race form cost him dear.

The often-understated Jonas Vingegaard showed his insatiable desire for victory as he won the his fifth stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia to cap off his pink jersey winning ride.

After victory on the final mountain test of the Giro on stage 20, the Dane now just has to negotiate the final flat stage into Rome tomorrow to be crowned Giro d’Italia champion.

Vingegaard will have won all three grand tours following his Vuelta a España win last year and his Tour de France wins in 2022 and 2023. He will be the first rider to do it since Chris Froome in 2018.

Speaking after the race Vingegaard confirmed that despite his often laid-back demeanour he’s as competitive as any pro. “I’m a cyclist I like to win I want to win as many races as possible. So, we decided to go for it again today,” he told TNT Sports.

“The boys did amazing again today and I had an amazing day also. To have won five stages here and to go into tomorrow with a solid lead is special to me.”

Though it didn’t go all entirely according to plan. Vingegaard attacked the GC group on the lower slopes of the Piancavallo climb to the finish, an ascent dedicated to the memory of Italian legend Marco Pantani.

But he revealed he had planned to go a bit later in the climb but key mountain domestique and yesterday’s stage winner Sepp Kuss was having a bad day and wasn’t able to set the pace. “We had to improvise,” Vingegaard said. “Bart Lemmen was amazing he did such a high pace form the bottom.”

Initially Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) was able to respond to the Visma-Lease a Bike leader’s attack but soon he was distanced and steadily losing time.

Behind third place GC rider Jai Hindley (Red Bul-Bora-hansgrohe) continued to tap out a steady pace with fifth place Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek).

With 5km to go Hindley and Gee-West regained contact with Gall and the three came into the finish together with fourth place GC rider Thymen Arensman. The Netcompany Ineos rider had been paced back onto the back of the group by team-mate Egan Bernal and so averting any danger that Gee-West might jump Arensman in the GC.

Further back down the mountain, Vingegaard’s team-mate Davide Piganzoli tried to overhaul young rider classification leader Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) who had started the day 1.03 up on his young Visma-Lease a Bike rival but to no avail.

Eulálio wasn’t the only one who had secured a jersey today, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) claimed the blue king of the mountains classification thanks to the break taking most of the points on the first of two ascents of Piancavallo.

But the day was ultimately all about Vingegaard who’s team had controlled the stage for much of the day through the first of the two ascents of the first category Piancavallo climb.

Just past the finish line Vingegaard made his customary phone call home to his wife to celebrate.

His team manager Richard Plugge told TNT Sports: “It’s incredible how the team rode again today. Everyone is paying the price for three weeks and Jonas is still the strongest.”

Plugge confirmed that Vingegaard will turn his attention to the Tour de France following the Giro d’Italia celebrations.

ResultGiro d’Italia 2026, Stage 20: Gemona del Friuli 1976-2026 > Piancavallo (200km)

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 5:03.55
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +1.15
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe,
4. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, all at same time
5. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +1.19
6. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +1.25
7. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, +2.03
8. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +2.13
9. Michale Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Davide Piganzoli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time

General classification after stage 20

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 80:17.01
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5.22
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +6.25
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +7.02
5. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +7.56
5. Alfonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, +9.39
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +10.13
8. Davide Piganzoli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, +10.52
9. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +11.24
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +12.54

Jonas Vingegaard soared to a fourth stage victory at this year's Giro d'Italia on stage 16 of the race, cementing his lead in the pink jersey in the process.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider has triumphed on every mountain-top finish at this year's Giro, and it was no different on Tuesday, as he put decisive time into his rivals. He now leads second-placed Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) by just over four minutes, who finished second, ahead of Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

Vingegaard's team had softened up the peloton on the mountainous day in Switzerland, with former race leader Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) dropping early on the final climb to Carì, before the man in pink launched his move with 6.6km to go. No-one could follow, with Gall briefly trying, before giving up his chase. By the finish, the Dane had put over a minute into his challengers.

With five stages to go, Vingegaard now has a bigger margin over second place than every edition of the Giro in the last 10 years, aside from Tadej Pogačar's triumphant ride in 2024. Eulálio losing time meant the top 10 was mildly reshuffled, with Gall moving to second, Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) now in third place, and Hindley into fourth, while the Portuguese rider is in in fifth.

"My teammates and I were very motivated for it," the stage winner and race leader said. "We wanted to try and win in the pink jersey, and it can also go wrong, so we chose the first option to do it. If we failed, then we’d have another one too.

"I think it was a very nice, very hard climb. It’s a long climb, it took around half an hour I guess. My teammates again did an amazing job, they pulled from the start, and they didn’t give the breakaway any chances today, and on the last climb then they reduced the bunch. Then I had to do the rest, and I’m happy once again that I can pay off my teammates."

Asked if his eyes were now on six stage wins, as Pogačar did in 2024, Vingegaard replied: "No. I take it day by day. Now I have four stages and we will see what we’ll do for the rest of the week."

"They showed again who is in charge again, as a team," Gall said. "He's just doing his thing."

The short day was animated by an early break which included Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Einer Rubio (Movistar), with Ciccone in particular seeming to hunt for mountains points. However, the escape never got enough leeway to challenge for the stage win, with Visma-Lease a Bike in control of the day.

One team did briefly appear on the front on the final climb – Red Bull – but this appeared to only achieve harm to their own aspirations, with Giulio Pellizzari dropping back almost immediately as the team began to pull.

There are two more key general classification days to come at this Giro, in the Dolomites and Julian Alps on stages 19 and 20, and it is very much Vingegaard's race to lose.

Results

Giro d'Italia stage 16: Bellinzona > Carì (113km)

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, 113km in 2:57:40
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +1:09
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:11
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +1:14
5. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +1:18
6. Davide Piganzoli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:34
7. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +2:04
8. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +2:18
9. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +2:55
10. Wout Poels (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets, +3:04

General classification after stage 16

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 62:10:26
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:03
3. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +4:27
4. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5:00
5. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, +5:40
6. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +7:09
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +7:14
8. Davide Piganzoli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, +7:57
9. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +9:20
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +9:44

Jonas Vingegaard has said he will remain at Visma-Lease a Bike for the remainder of his career, adding that he will likely retire before he is 35.

The Dane, currently 29, was speaking during a rest day press conference at the Giro d'Italia, in which he is wearing the leader's maglia rosa.

After speculation over a possible future move to Netcompany-Ineos, whose new title sponsor is a Danish company, Vingegaard was asked whether he could imagine spending the rest of his career with his current team. He has a deal with Visma which runs until 2028 at the moment.

“This year is my eighth year as a pro,” Vingegaard said. “I also don’t see myself riding until I’m 35. I’m turning 30, so that’s actually not in so many years. I would also say that I don’t see myself changing team. To add to that, I see myself finishing my career in this team.”

“I’ve said in the last few years that I’ll take it year by year,” he said. “That’s what I’ve done at least since my [Itzulia Basque Country] crash in 2024, and at this moment I don’t see myself retiring. If I still enjoy it, then I will keep riding."

If Vingegaard does win the current Giro d'Italia, and few would bet against that at this point, his victory roll will include many of the biggest races in the sport – or at least those he could feasibly win without becoming a different kind of rider.

But there are a number of stage races the Dane would still like to tick off, he says.

“Obviously this would be a big goal for me, winning here in the Giro,” he said. “But I also haven’t won all the one-week stage races, which would be nice to win. I’ve won a few of them, so that’s also nice, but there are still some big races for me to try to win.”

He has won most of the current smaller WorldTour stage races, but the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie have both so far eluded him – something he may wish to address. Of the biggest one-day races that could suit him, there are also the World Championships; he was also asked about his intentions there yesterday, but was non-committal.

“It’s still four months on the horizon, so I have no answer whether I’m doing it or not," he said. "I’ve said all the time that now I’m doing the Giro and the Tour. That’s my priority now. After the Tour I will see how I feel, and then I will make a decision on what to do.”

Vingegaard will be called upon to defend his pink jersey once again at today's Giro stage 16, which takes place Switzerland with the finish contested on the cat-one climb to Carì – 11.6km at 8%.

Jonas Vingegaard took the Giro d'Italia general classification by the scruff of the neck on Saturday, with a decisive win on stage 14.

On one of the toughest stages of the 21 of this year's event, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider attacked a group of favourites with 4.8km of the stage to go, riding to the final alone and taking the overall lead with seven stages to go.

Vingegaard's attack instantly distanced Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), though, even with Davide Piganzzoli (Visma-Lease a Bike) initially on his wheel. The Austrian managed his effort, dropping the Italian and finishing in second place, 49 seconds down.

Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) was third a further nine seconds behind.

Always touted as a decisive stage, it saw Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) cede the race leader's maglia rosa, after the Portuguese rider took it on stage five. Eulálio spent much of the final climb close to the back of the favourites' group and was dropped with 9km remaining, he battled on though, eventually finishing 115th, though he remains second overall. He's now 2.26 behind Vingegaard, with Gall third, a further 245 seconds back.

The day also saw Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) slip one spot down the GC to fourth place, just ahead of Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

Vingegaard's victory came on the back of a dominant performance from his Visma-Lease a Bike team. They were dominant throughout the stage, which began with a first category climb and ascended more than 4,000m over the 133km. They monitored the breakaway from the neutral zone until the last of a huge bunch of escapees was finally brought to heel just over 5km from the line.

"I think this one is the one I will remember the most today," Vingegaard said after the stage. "We made a plan from the start with the team and we wanted to control the race and that's what my team mates did. They did an incredible job all day, it was really impressive how they rode, I'm so proud of my team mates and I'm so proud that I can pay them back, it's a super nice win.

"It's always a bit of improvisation, we said when it got steep in the end we wanted to try, then Piganzoli, I almost didn't have to attack today, he rode everyone out of my wheel almost, so that was really impressive," he said of the winning attack.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Giro d'Italia's third weekend began with its third mountain top finish, the peloton heading into the Alps for the first time for a short but incredibly sharp stage. The entire 133km stage was held around Aosta, in Italy's far north west, starting in the city and climbing almost 4,200m over five classified climbs before reaching the finish at the ski resort in Pila.

It was uphill from the gun, the race heading straight up the first category Saint Barthélémy climb, a 16km ascent at an average 6% gradient. Visma-Lease a Bike were among those warming up on the rollers before the stage, and their controlling strategy was clear from the start, their yellow jerseys across the front as the flag dropped.

They initially allowed three riders up the road, but as the climb progressed a huge number of others escaped, Enric Mas one of four Movistar riders among the 29-man group, with triple stage winner Jhonatan Narváez among three from UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

From that group Narváez's team mate, Jan Christen escaped, taking Jardi van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) with him, the pair building a lead of 20 seconds on the group. While Visma initially did a good job of holding the leading within 20 seconds, they allowed it to grow, the two leaders cresting the climb leading the other breakaway group by 30 seconds, the peloton a further minute down.

That did not last long though, Christen and Van der Lee were both caught on the descent, while the peloton, with Vingegaard's team still intact on the front, drifted out to 1.30.

The leading group comprised 23 riders when it reached the 10km flat after the descent, and they worked to expand their lead, which had grown to three minutes when they reached the intermediate sprint. There Narváez took maximum points, wresting the maglia ciclamino from points classification leader Paul Magnier, despite the attentions of the Frenchman's Soudal Quick-Step team mate, Gianmarco Garofoli.

The sprint heralded the start of the second climb, the third category Doues. On the climb riders began to drop from the leading group, while others upped the pace. Stage 5 winner, Igor Arietta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took maximum points on the climb, briefly drifting off the front of a reduced group on the descent, while the peloton had dropped back further, their deficit 3.45.

Averaging 7.8% over its 7.5km, the Lin Noir climb came next and it was here that Visma-Lease a Bike went to work, Vingegaard's five remaining domestiques beginning to erode a gap which had maxed out at 3.50. They didn't do the work on their own though, the Bahrain Victorious team of race leader, Afonso Eulálio providing some assistance. Over the top, with 50km of the stage remaining, the leading group had lost some 30 seconds, Visma's Tim Rex turning himself inside out to make the difference.

After only the briefest of descents, Rex led onto the day's penultimate climb, to Verrogne. Though it was less challenging than its predecessor, Visma took more time out of the breakaway, whose advantage was only 2.36 as the race entered its final 40km.

The ascent of the climb to the ski station to Pila climb consisted of a relatively consistent gradient, but at 7% over its 16.6km, it was challenging enough. Of the 27 riders remaining in the peloton, five of them were from Visma-Lease a Bike, though their deficit was still over two minutes at the bottom. However, as soon as they began winding their way though the vineyards on the lower slopes, that began to drop, and with 13.9km left, it was less than two minutes.

With 10km to Einar Rubio (Movistar) instigated a number of moves from the diminished breakaway group, but, though each attack saw one more rider dropped, nothing stuck and behind them, their advantage dropped below 50 seconds, 8km from the line.

Rubio and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) were the final two breakaway riders to be caught, just over 5km of the day remaining, Davide Piganzoli the last of Vingegaard's team mates to to take his turn. His final effort saw to Thymen Arensman (Netcompnay Ineos), before his Danish leader's attack saw to the rest of his rivals with 4.8km to go.

RESULTS

GIRO D'ITALIA, STAGE 14, AOSTA > PILA (133KM)

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 3:53:01
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +49s
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +58s
4. Davide Piganzoli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:03
5. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, s.t.
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +1:23
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:35
8. Wout Poels (Ned) Unibet-Rose Rockets, +2:08
9. January Hirt (Cze) NSN Cycling, s.t.
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 14

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 56:08:41
2. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, +2:26
3. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +2:50
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +3:03
5. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:43
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +4:22
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +4:46
8. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +5:22
9. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +5:41
10. Davide Piganzoli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, 6:13

Jonas Vingegaard has been suffering with some degree of sickness while cycling the Giro d'Italia, it was revealed by Visma Lease-a-Bike’s sports director yesterday.

Talking to the Dutch media, Jesper Mørkøv admitted that several of his team had not been in perfect fitness for much of the preceding week, and that Vingegaard was among those affected.

“Yes, we have had a bit of coughing and tickling in the throat among some of the boys," he told TV2 Sport, before qualifying that the situation was relatively minor, and mostly resolved. Pressed on whether Vingegaard was among the riders showing symptoms of sickness, Mørkøv said: “He has also been one of them, but everything seems to be fine.”

The Danish rider has also been labouring under a heavy weight of expectation, due to being widely considered the overwhelming favourite for this year's Giro. He has won two stages so far, but failed to perform at his best on the TT bike during stage 10, losing time to race rivals Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) during the time trial stage that was convincingly won by Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos).

The under par performance in the time trial led to some people, including Geraint Thomas, questioning whether the Danish rider was currently firing on all cylinders.

Vingegaard remains in second position in the general classification, but he did lose another six seconds to race leader Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) during stage 12 and now trails Portuguese rider by 33 seconds, a margin the current maglia rosa wearer secured by taking the bonus seconds at the Red Bull KM on Thursday.

The 2026 Giro has been a battle of attrition so far, with riders succumbing to illness and injury and myriad crashes, the worst of which was on stage two, and the list of abandonees growing daily. However, there is no suggestion that Vingegaard is seriously ill, or that he won’t be able to continue, and the Dane remains the favourite.

Netcompany-Ineos director of racing Geraint Thomas questioned the condition of Giro d'Italia favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), following the Dane's slightly disappointing performance in the stage 10 time trial.

Speaking on his Watts Occurring podcast after the stage, he said: "Jonas, I expected more from him. Maybe he's been a bit sick or something."

On a stage where he was counted among the favourites, Vingegaard finished 13th, 2:59 behind winner Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos), and losing time to GC rivals Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla).

Thomas added: "Even on the mountains – don't get me wrong, he smashed everyone he won two stages – but the standards he's set, along with Pog [Tadej Pogačar]... if he was at his best, the gap to [GC rival Felix] Gall would be bigger. It just feels like that gap between Jonas and the rest is a lot closer [than you'd expect] on those mountain stages and today. He's not pinging.

"But, saying that," said the Welsh former Tour de France winner, "he's still leading out of the GC guys, still in a really strong position. Part of me thinks he's not been 100%."

Conversely, the stage was a superb one for Thomas's team, who fielded both the stage winner and the runner-up in Ganna and Arensman – the latter boosting his hopes for the GC, now lying in third place.

"Obviously Pippo absolutely smashed it, almost two minutes to second place who was Thymen. Which was good for us as he gained time on all the GC boys," Thomas said.

Assessing the rides of GC players, he praised the fifth-place ride Gee-West, and also the battling performance by maglia rosa Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious).

"Just off the top of my head I think Derek Gee, he did a good ride," Thomas said. "If you're thinking expectations, above or below, I think he was solid.

"Fair play to Eulálio," he added. "They [Bahrain Victorious] should keep it for three days or so now really."

Missing out on claiming the jersey on the stage would have bothered Vingegaard less than his below-par performance and time lost to other GC players, judged Thomas: "I think he'll be like, ah it's fine, Bahrain can control for another three days."

While Thomas drove a Netcompany-Ineos team car behind Magnus Sheffield during the stage, Thomas had a very good idea of what the US rider was going through, he said, because he'd suffered through a recon ride with the team's big guns himself that morning.

Riding with Ganna, Arensman and others, who were all in aero finery, Thomas was on a road bike. He'd been promised a steady ride, he said, but it didn't quite turn out that way.

"Mate, it was the longest 42km of my life," he told Watts Occurring co-host Luke Rowe. "I was swinging the whole way round. Just riding to the start I felt like an imposter, like a big fan boy you know?"

Next time, perhaps Thomas will take the advice of fellow Netcompany-Ineos staffer Elia Viviani, who warned him that it would be hard going.

There has been speculation that Jonas Vingegaard is deliberately holding himself back at this Giro d'Italia, conscious of the fact that the Tour de France is also on his radar.

Judging by the Visma-Lease a Bike rider's two stage wins to date, where he put time into his general classification rivals without blowing them out of the water, perhaps that is the case. There is also the small matter of more mountains to come at this Giro. Also, it is perhaps in his interests not to take the pink jersey too early, and get Afonso Eulálio and Bahrain Victorious to do more of the work.

However, it did not seem to the plan to hold back on Tuesday, when the Dane simply had a relatively bad day on the TT bike on stage 10. Being Vingegaard, his bad day was not catastrophic, but it was not the good day that many expected; he is still waiting to take over pink when Eulálio fades, as expected.

"Terrible. It was terrible. It was very long and not my specialty to do a flat time trial like this. I've never been super good at it, and to be honest, I came through pretty well today," Vingegaard said in his post-race interview.

He almost three minutes behind stage winner Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos), which can be allowed, but he lost over a minute to Ganna's teammate Thymen Arensman, a GC threat, 45 seconds to Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), and 15 seconds to Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla). None of this is groundbreaking, but it is time lost that Vingegaard would rather still have.

"I think that a completely flat time trial like this benefits the bigger guys a bit more. The more power you have," he said.

Vingegaard still has to do podium duties, as the leader of the mountains classification, but he's dreaming of bigger things. Arensman is now his nearest threat, 1:30 behind, with Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) just under 30 seconds further back.

"I think I'm in a good spot at the moment," he said. "Of course, I am close to the pink jersey now. It would have been nice to have the pink jersey already, but I think every day in the jersey would be a pleasure and something you have to be happy about. Of course, I'm also happy with the blue jersey; it's not a problem. In the end, I'm in a good spot."

His next outright GC opportunity comes on stage 14, with a day of back-to-back mountains in the Aosta Valley, before the showdown in the Dolomites on stage 19, and a final mountain day on stage 20.

The first full week at the Giro d'Italia has been a treat for bike racing fans, with thrills, spills, skills and, of course, a whole bunch of hills. The GC battle has ignited, spearheaded by a certain Dane, but other players have stepped forward from the wings and proved themselves to be far greater than bit-parts in what could turn out to be an epic Italian saga.

The race moved back from Bulgaria to its homeland last Monday, and the rest of the week ran the whole gamut between hills and mountains, with predictably exciting results. Read on for our take on what's gone on.

Jonas Vingegaard looks good, but he's not the only one

Stalking the maglia rosa like a wiry beast of prey, Jonas Vingegaard already has two stages in the bag and is currently eyeing the GC leader's spot menacingly from second place.

Right now, there isn't anything to suggest that the Visma-Lease a Bike rider isn't well capable of pushing onwards into the later part of the race and fulfilling his dream of winning all three Grand Tours.

And yet, with two surging mountain wins – one on the Blockhaus on stage seven, and one on Corno alle Scale on Sunday's stage nine, fans might have expected him to be sitting pretty in pink with a significant gap to second. It will be interesting to see how the battle plays out.

Alfonso Eulálio's impressively tight grip on pink

The rider that currently has what Vingegaard wants is Portugal's Alfonso Eulálio. He slipped into the maglia rosa almost by accident thanks to his endeavours in the breakaway on a slapstick stage five (remember that one?) and has clung on tenaciously ever since.

The Bahrain Victorious rider only moved up from the third-tier ranks at the start of last season, and his time trial previous suggests he might be lucky to hang on to pink in tomorrow's long ITT – but the extra watts a Grand Tour leader's jersey can bestow upon its wearer can often surprise. He will lose pink at some point, but this race will be cemented in his memory – and his name in fans' minds – for the rest of his career.

Italy's big hope scuppered by stomach issues

After his win at the Tour of the Alps in April, Italian fans had placed a lot of eggs in the Giulio Pellizzari basket this Giro. The hosts have not fielded a home winner since Vincenzo Nibali back in 2016 and are eager for another.

While only the most fervent optimists would have been backing the 22-year-old Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider to wear pink in Rome, a final podium finish did not seem out of reach. Unfortunately for Pellizzari and the tifosi, that may have been rendered far more difficult by the stomach issues that saw him cede 1.28 on stage nine to winner Vingegaard.

He now sits ninth on GC, nearly three minutes back on the Dane, and a minute-and-a-half behind fellow maglia rosa hopefuls Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Jai Hindley, his teammate.

Welcome back, Jhonatan Narváez

While one South American rider has had a disappointing Giro d'Italia so far, another has done an impressive job of making up for it.

Netcompany-Ineos's Egan Bernal will definitely have hoped to have been sitting somewhere above the 17th on GC that he currently occupies, although the second half of the team's two-pronged attempt on pink, Thymen Arensman, is not out of the running yet, sixth on GC and 2.36 behind Vingegaard.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Ecuadorian puncheur Jhonatan Narvaez, however, won two well-taken stage wins last week, on stage four and stage eight, both on uphill finishes. In what is his first race back since crashing out of the Tour Down Under in January, Narváez is clearly on fine form. Could we see another?

Felix Gall takes the fight to Vingegaard

With Portugal's Joāo Almeida out of the picture, ducking out of participation ahead of the race due to illness, many were wondering who would be able to stop Vingegaard pulling off a win in the style of his Tour de France nemesis Tadej Pogačar and simply waltzing away with it. In Decathlon CMA CGM's Felix Gall, we appear to have found the answer. Despite all-in uphill attacks on two stages by Vingegaard, Gall remains only 35 seconds behind the big favourite.

Fifth in last year's Tour de France, Gall's tenacious riding this week have marked him out as Vingegaard's biggest rival, for now. His sports director Luke Roberts reckons he will only get better as the race continues. Great for Gall, great for fans, not quite so good for Vingegaard.

It was easy to assume that Jonas Vingegaard would walk this Giro d'Italia. After all, he is a man who has won two Tours de France and a Vuelta a España, while his biggest general classification rivals are largely considered to not have the same top level; there is no other GC hopeful present within the top-15 of the UCI rankings.

Cycling is not that simple. On the first summit finish of this year's race, on Blockhaus on stage seven, Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike might have won, but there was no knockout blow, no decisive time gap. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) rode his race, limited his losses after the inevitable attack by the Dane, and finished just 13 seconds behind.

After bonus seconds, he is 17 seconds in arrears to Vingegaard, while the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe pair of Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari sit 1:08 and 1:11 back from Vingegaard. The stage winner is also not in control of the pink jersey, with that belonging to Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), 3:17 ahead.

"It was a really hard pace from the bottom from Visma," Gall said in a flash TV interview post-stage. "At first I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't follow Pellizzari and Jonas, but in the end it was good that I did my own pace."

Perhaps fittingly, the Austrian played a clever game on Blockhaus, the climb named after an emplacement built by Austrian Empire troops in the 19th century, when their country controlled parts of the Italian peninsula.

While Pellizzari tried to stick to Vingegaard's wheel immediately after he attacked with 5.5km to go, Gall rode at his own tempo, at a speed he knew he could keep up. Pellizzari, the young Italian, suffered as a result of trying to match Vingegaard, while Gall was able to close the gap somewhat, and keep the stage winner in sight at the finish.

"Felix is a very strong rider, so we knew he'd be up there close," Vingegaard, for his part, said. "He's a big rival and so he is a guy we have to worry about."

In truth, the 29-year-old Dane remains the overwhelming favourite for the Giro, despite not being decisively ahead in the race, as many expected him to be already at the race.

There are many big moments to come, including two particularly mountainous days on stages 19 and 20, in the Dolomites and Julian Alps. There is another summit finish on Sunday, and then also the small matter of the long time trial on Tuesday, a discipline that normally favours Vingegaard over his rivals. Things could look more as expected very quickly.

Gall is a solid GC rider, but has never finished higher than fifth at a Grand Tour, last year's Tour de France his best result to date. He remains the underdog, while Hindley and Pellizzari, Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) are not out of it completely, but have lost significant time Vingegaard that it might be race-losing.

"I'd say he's, for example, a much better time trialist than me for a start," Gall said of his rival.

"He's the best Grand Tour rider we currently have next to Tadej [Pogačar], so, for sure, I'm not thinking about how to beat him for now, I'm just happy with my performance."

However, Friday's stage offered a glimmer of hope that we might have a race on our hands, and that this Giro won't be a one-horse affair after all. That knockout blow hasn't landed, meaning we will go on for at least another couple of rounds.

Giro d'Italia favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) lived up to his billing on the first summit finish of the race, attacking to ride solo to the finish on the Blockhaus climb on stage seven.

He was still some way off taking the overall lead from Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), but the Dane opened up significant gaps on some of his main contenders, including Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek).

The race was far from sewn up though, after this longest day of the race – a mammoth 244km. Closest competitor Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished a surprisingly close 13 seconds behind, and Giulio Pellizzari and his Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe teammate Jai Hindley around a minute back.

Afterwards Vingegaard said: "Today we just wanted to go for the win... my team-mates did an amazing job today and I'm just happy I could pay it off."

Asked whether attacking at 5.5km to go was the plan, he replied: "We kept it a bit more open to see when the moment was there. There was a lot of wind, and at moments a lot of headwind. It was a very tough climb.

"I'm definitely happy I could take back some time. And take some time on my opponents, that was a good day for us."

He described Gall as a big rival who needed watching: "For sure Felix Gall is a big rival to me," he said. "I knew it already before the race, he's a very strong guy that we really have to take into account."

Visma-Lease a Bike had been vocal about their desire to win today's stage, with ran from Vingegaard, and the team made its intentions clear almost as soon as the race hit the slopes of the Blockhaus, massing at the front alongside the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team.

Having dispatched the last of the day's break and after a brief Sepp Kuss turn, Vingegaard launched with 5.5km remaining. Young Italian talent Pellizzari managed to follow but a few digs from the Dane dispatched him a kilometre later. Meanwhile Gall was quietly following at a distance and actually managed to gain a handful of seconds on Vingegaard on the line, announcing himself as a key opponent.

How it happened

Today's stage was always going to be about the climbs in its second half and, more specifically, the summit finish on the Blockhaus. Measuring 13.6km long at a fiendish 8.4% average and with super-tough 14% ramps, it loomed over the rest of the stage, all the more ominous for the heavy skies above.

The race has already featured some tough climbing stages, but today felt like the flag-drop on the GC battle proper.

The Blockhaus was not the only climb on the stage – there were at least four solid ascents before the final mountain was reached. Only one of these, Roccaraso, was classified. A category-two. But there was very little flat across the entire second half.

The first half, though, was comparatively flat and, as expected, was characterised by an early break taking the lead. Less predictable was the presence within of sprinter Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), alongside four other breakaways: Nikolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5), Jardi Van Der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta) and Tim Naberman (Picnic PostNL).

After missing out on a chance to contest the win after being baulked by a crash in yesterday's final, Milan was no doubt there for the 12 points he gained by winning the intermediate sprint at Venafro, which saw him close the gap just a little to classification leader Paul Magnier.

As the race's second-heaviest rider at 84kg, there was no chance that Milan was going to be contesting in the hills and he was duly tailed off once the road began to rise.

The remaining quartet held on to a very healthy lead of at times more than six minutes, which only began to fall as the Blockhaus loomed.

Once on its slopes the distance took its toll in the break, which began to fracture, while behind the urgency in the bunch saw its advantage rapidly reduced as both Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe massed on the front. A huge turn by Visma-Lease a Bike's Davide Piganzoli dispatched GC hopefuls Enric Mas (Movistar), Bernal and Gee-West.

At 6.5km to go, everything began to happen at once. The last of the breakaway was caught, Kuss hit the front, maglia rosa Eulalio was dropped and, in short order Vingegaard attacked.

Once he was alone the stage looked done and dusted, but a strong ride from Gall meant Vingegaard won't rest easy on the GC just yet.

Results

Giro d'Italia, stage 7: Formia > Blockhaus, 244km

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, 244km in 6:09:15
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +13s
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, 1:02
4. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, 1:05
5. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, at s.t.
6. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:29
7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +1:40
8. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +1:42
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:44
10. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, at s.t.

General Classification after stage 7

1. Alfonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, in 30:59:23
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:17
3. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:34
4. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +4:25
5. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +4:28
6. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, +4:32
7. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +4:56
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +4:57
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +5:07.
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +5:11

The first Grand Tour of the year has been a long time coming and now it is finally here it has been as eventful as ever. The Giro d'Italia has arrived. New stars have been crowned. Hot favourites have bared their teeth and their rivals have responded. And, unfortunately, there have also been incidents that both fans and riders would rather forget.

So far we have enjoyed the three stages of the Bulgarian Grande Partenza, with a Monday rest day followed by the resumption of proceedings back in Italy on Tuesday.

We take a look back at some of the race's most memorable moments and people from this first few days.

Magnier: a new French 'Paul' to conjure with

With the hype and the wins produced by Paul Seixas this year have come countless headlines referencing the success of a 'young French rider'. Seixas's countryman and namesake Paul Magnier must have been biding his time until the Giro, waiting to get a piece of the action. And he has done so with aplomb, having worn the first maglia rosa of the race and taking a brace of stages with it. He now leads the pints classification, ahead of some of the luminaries of the sprinting world, like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).

Magnier has won races before, but never at this level. After his second stage victory in Sofia, on Sunday's third stage, Magnier seemed bemused and happy in equal measure. "I have to say I feel really good and I beat the best sprinters in the world, so I will try to enjoy this moment and keep going like this with the team," he said.

It's unlikely we've seen the last of him in this race.

Adam Yates out as UAE Team Emirates-XRG woes continue

With the loss of Joāo Almeida and Richard Carapaz from the start list even before the race had begun, the roll of serious contenders for Jonas Vingegaard had been decimated before the action had started.

Following a devastating crash involving multiple riders on stage two, the list has been reduced even further with the retirement of Almeida's stablemate, Adam Yates. The Briton, who had taken over from Almeida as UAE Team Emirates-XRG's main GC hope, limped to the finish but showed "delayed concussive symptoms" according to the team, and did not start the next day.

Yates's retirement wasn't the last of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's woes – Jay Vine also retired with a broken elbow following the same crash, and Marc Soler suffered a pelvic fracture.

Jonas Vingegaard bares his teeth

Lacking any major climbs or time trials, the Grande Partenza in Bulgaria was not one for the GC contenders. Nevertheless that did not stop hot favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) from showing off some fine condition and asserting his dominance on stage two.

His attack on the final climb of the day – a cat-three up to Lyaskovets Monastery, not far from the finish – may have been at least in part an exercise in self-preservation on damp roads that had already claimed multiple crash victims and were clearly slippery. Riding out front alone on a descent is, after all, safer than being caught up in the wheels.

However, Vingegaard ended up taking his main rival Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) with him, as well as on-form Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarche), on near-race-winning move that was only caught in sight of the line. The Dane is clearly in form and ready to race.

Historic victory for Thomas Silva

The modern Giro d'Italia has diligently made itself one of the most cosmopolitan of stage races, with starts in Hungary, Albania and even Israel in recent years, as well as this season's Bulgaria. So the race will surely be pleased to add a brand new nationality to the list of riders who have won one of its stages.

Twenty-four-year-old Thomas Silva of Uruguay declared himself "speechless" after winning stage two. The XDS-Astana rider won the uphill sprint in Veliko Tarnovo at the end of what was probably the most memorable day so far – for both positive and negative reasons.

Team staff's 1,000km challenge

Giro d'Italia organiser RCS did rather well out of the Bulgaria Grande Partenza, having charged a reported €12.5 million fee, according to our colleagues at Cyclingnews. Likewise, Bulgaria tourism is probably set to enjoy a boost too. But what of riders and, especially, staff, as they make a major transfer back to Italy to continue the race.

The riders will fly, as you might expect. But most of the staff will be driving 1,000km from Sofia back to Cantanzaro in readiness for stage four on Tuesday. Not just that though. As reported in Cyclingnews, the riders will be expecting to go for their usual rest day spin and will require their bikes and equipment to be available for that at some point on Monday. That's 1,000km of driving in 24 hours – a feat that rivals what the riders do on their bikes each day.

Jonas Vingegaard has said he is "really not the only favourite" at the Giro d'Italia, two days before the Italian Grand Tour starts.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider is the overwhelming favourite for the race, especially in the absence of both João Almeida and Richard Carapaz. Vingegaard is the only GC rider in the top-15 of the UCI's ranking to be taking part in the Giro, and is the reigning Vuelta a España champion; he has won both stage races he has taken part in this season.

His rivals, including Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), and Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos), have not got the better of him in recent years.

However, speaking to to Cycling Pro Net at the Giro's presentation on Wednesday, the Dane was keen to not appear complacent: "I don't think I'm the only favourite. I think there are a lot of other strong guys here, who also have a chance. I don't think that quote is correct."

The Giro begins in Nessebar, Bulgaria, on Friday, before it moves back to Italy after an early rest day on Tuesday.

This will be Vingegaard's first appearance at the race, and also an opportunity to complete the set of Grand Tour victories, alongside the Tour de France and Vuelta. The last person to win all three was Chris Froome, who completed the trilogy in 2018.

"I'm extremely happy to be here," Vingegaard said. "It is a dream come true. Hopefully, I can do a good race for the next three weeks, and then we’ll see in Rome what the result will be. At least I have now done everything to be as good as possible, and I I think I’ve had a pretty good preparation for this Giro."

"I've always dreamt of doing the Giro. I remember watching it on the television as a kid. It's a special race, and Italy is a special country for me. Actually, I've really been looking forward to doing it and now to have the opportunity to win all three Grand Tours."

Asked if there was anything different to look out for at the Giro, he said: "There are a lot of hard stages here, obviously, a little bit here in Bulgaria. There are a lot of hard stages coming throughout the Giro, so you have to be focused every day."

"The Giro is more unpredictable," he said in a separate interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport this week. "You've got to be ready for anything every day because there can be surprises everywhere."

Despite last-minute drop-outs from GC contenders João Almeida and Richard Carapaz, there are still plenty of strong riders lining up for the start of the Giro d'Italia in Bulgaria this Friday. Three weeks of riding through the Italian countryside (after starting in Bulgaria) will see the general classification battle shape up day-by-day; is Jonas Vingegaard's title as safe as it seems from the outset?

This is our list of the top contenders vying for the maglia rosa in 2026.

Read more: Giro d'Italia 2026 route | Giro d'Italia 2026 start list | Abandons

Jonas Vingegaard
29 | Den | Visma-Lease a Bike
Previous Giro starts: 0
Best GC result: N/A
Best stage result: N/A

This will be Jonas Vingegaard’s first participation in the Giro d’Italia. Having won the Vuelta and the Tour de France, he has made no secret of the fact he’d love to complete the full set of Grand Tours.

“I chose the Giro because it’s one of the most prestigious competitions in the world, and because I’ve never raced it before,” he said following the announcement. He also suggested that the course is not “excessively hard”, so would allow him to recover in time for the Tour de France in July.

The Dane will start as the clear favourite. Some of his most potent rivals include rising Italian star Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos), a double mountains stage winner at last year’s Tour de France and a fine time triallist.

But few have been able to get close to Vingegaard in the past two Tours de France, despite a huge crash at Itzulia Basque Country in 2024 that left the Dane below par for a long, long time – possibly until right now.

“I feel like I’ve spent the last two years fighting my way back to that level – back to the Jonas I was before my crash,” he said in a recent interview. His performances so far this season have suggested he could be there. His 4.23 winning margin on GC at Paris-Nice in March was the biggest since 1939, and he took an impressive win at the more recent Volta a Catalunya.

Giulio Pellizzari
22 | Ita | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Previous Giro starts: 2
Best GC result: 6th (2025)
Best stage result: 2nd (2024)

While the cycling world is currently being wooed by French teen sensation Paul Seixas, another youngster with impressive chops has slipped in almost under the radar.

Despite his tender 22 years, Giulio Pellizzari already has a solid Giro d’Italia record that he will hope to build on this month. He performed well at the Vuelta a España last year too, matching his sixth overall from the Giro and winning a first Grand Tour stage.

Most recently, the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider has indicated his excellent current condition by winning two stages on the way to overall victory at the Tour of the Alps in Austria and Italy.

Speaking after the final stage, Pellizzari’s DS Christian Pömer, said: “We can be confident now to have a chance to fight for the podium at the Giro.” The Tour of the Alps result “scares me a little”, he said, because of the superstition that the winner there rarely does well at the Giro, adding, “But with [Tadej] Pogačar we’ve seen the curse of the rainbow jersey doesn't exist anymore, and we hope for the same for Tour of the Alps and the Giro.”

Hailing from Camerino in central Italy, Pellizzari is the home nation’s greatest hope of ending a 10-year GC-winners’ drought at the Giro. Pellizzari’s ability to fulfil those hopes has been further boosted by his improved time trialling, which he can now call a strength alongside his natural climbing ability. In 2024 he was gifted a maglia rosa by his idol Tadej Pogačar; it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this year he could wear it for real.

Jai Hindley
29 | Aus | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Previous Giro starts: 5
Best GC result: 1st (2022)
Best stage result: 1st (x2) in 2020, ‘22

One of two former winners of the Giro d’Italia on the start list, Jai Hindley comes into the race as a co-leader for Red Bull alongside Italian hope Giulio Pellizzari. The 29-year-old has not had a 2026 to shout about, with 17th place overall at the Volta a Catalunya following 22nd place at Tirreno-Adriatico, but he has the experience to make things count over the three weeks.

Last year, Hindley crashed out of the Giro on stage six, leaving Pellizzari clear to finish sixth overall; Red Bull will hope that the pair can work together more effectively over the three weeks this time around, presenting two viable GC options for Jonas Vingegaard to worry about.

While he hasn’t won a Grand Tour since his sole Giro win in 2022, Hindley has finished in the top-10 three times since, twice at the Vuelta a España and once at the Tour de France, including fourth overall at last summer’s Vuelta. A win would be a surprise, as it was in 2022 when the Australian overcame Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa to pull on the pink jersey, but it should not be ruled out. This Giro’s relative lack of attritional climbing should open up the race a bit more, and the inclusion of just one time trial won’t be too detrimental to his chances.

His 2022 win was built on solid consistency before a penultimate-day triumph, a lot like Simon Yates’s glory last year. There’s no reason why Hindley could not do it again. After all, shocks seem to happen more at the Giro than other Grand Tours. In a race short on top GC talent, the canny Australian might just have the ability to sneak through the pack while all eyes are on Pellizzari and Vingegaard.

Ben O’Connor
30 | Aus | Jayco-AlUla
Previous Giro starts: 4
Best GC result: 4th (2024)
Best stage result: 1st (2020)

A bold and brilliant climber, capable of winning stages solo from the break, O’Connor starts his fifth Giro with an impressive palmarès, having taken stage victories in all the Grand Tours.

The Australian took his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro in 2020, following it up in 2021 with a stage win at the Tour de France and an impressive fourth on GC. O’Connor also finished fourth on GC at the Corsa Rosa in 2024, during his final year with Decathlon, when he later nailed a stage win and second place overall at the Vuelta a España. Last year, riding for Jayco-AlUla, he scored a stunning mountains stage win at the Tour, beating Pogačar over Col de la Loze. He has had a steady 2026 so far, but expect him to peak for the Giro and vie for a high GC placing.

Thymen Arensman
26 | Ned | Netcompany-Ineos
Previous Giro starts: 4
Best GC result: 6th (2023, 24)
Best stage result: 2nd (2022)

With a new jersey on his back and a capable co-pilot in team-mate Egan Bernal, in-form Dutchman Thymen Arensman should be gunning for a top-five place in what will be his fifth participation in the Italian tour. He has finished sixth here twice before, in 2023 and 2024, and last year won a brace of major mountains stages at the Tour de France, holding off both Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on both occasions.

Tall, slender, and built for climbing, Arensman also has a strong time trial, which will be helpful but not crucial in this year’s single, flat TT on stage 10. Both Arensman and Bernal rode strongly at last month’s Tour of the Alps, filling out the podium behind winner Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), whom they’ll also face here at the Giro. As to which Netcompany rider will ultimately take the lead, their DS, Leonardo Basso insisted the “road will decide”.

Egan Bernal
29 | Col | Netcompany-Ineos
Previous Giro starts: 2
Best GC result: 1st (2021)
Best stage result: 1st (x2) in 2021

After years spent fighting back from a devastating training crash, Egan Bernal appears to be closing in on his former, Tour de France-winning self. This year’s Giro will see him form one half of a two-pronged GC assault alongside team-mate Thymen Arensman.

Decked out in the red, yellow and blue Colombian national champion’s jersey, with a bike to match, Bernal is slowly amassing a series of results that do ample justice to his sharp looks. Last year’s seventh overall at the Giro d’Italia was by far his best Grand Tour GC ride since his 2022 crash, and he looks capable of building on that this year judging by his recent fifth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and second overall at the mountainous Tour of the Alps. What’s more, Netcompany DS Leonardo Basso says he has the “mentality” to match his pre-crash results too.

Felix Gall
28 | Aut | Decathlon CMA CGM
Previous Giro starts: 1
Best GC result: 50th (2022)
Best stage result: 11th (2022)

The 2026 edition is only the second time Gall has raced the Giro d’Italia. His first appearance at the race, in 2022, was a Grand Tour initiation for the young AG2R rider. Now, four years later, at 28 years old and as Decathlon’s team leader, Gall will be returning to Italy with a roster of near-podium placings under his belt: fifth overall at the UAE Tour (with a third-place finish on the queen stage) and sixth at the Volta a Catalunya (finishing second on the key mountain stage).

A good climber and growing GC threat, the Austrian won a stage at the 2023 Tour de France and is now targeting a podium position at either the Giro or the Vuelta a España. The Italian race is his first major goal of the season.

Derek Gee-West
28 | Can | Lidl-Trek
Previous Giro starts: 2
Best GC result: 4th (2025)
Best stage result: 2nd (2023)

Despite an impressive overall fourth place at last year’s Giro and a series of second-place stage finishes in his 2023 debut, Gee-West was, until February, without a team for the 2026 season. Since signing with his new team, Lidl-Trek, the Canadian has made no secret of his Giro d’Italia hopes.

But Gee-West’s Giro preparation was interrupted by an illness that saw him abandon last month’s Volta a Catalunya, missing out on important pre-Giro practice stages after a solid seventh place finish at the UAE Tour just before.

The 28-year-old’s Volta disappointment seems to have been a blip in his otherwise stacked pre-Giro calendar: the Canadian prefers to work the legs right up to his favourite race of the year. At April’s Tour of the Alps, he finished a solid 12th overall. Bolstered by a new team, Gee-West looks to be in a strong position heading into the race.

OUTSIDE OPTIONS FOR GIRO GLORY

Of all the possible remaining wildcard options for the GC, there is a former Grand Tour winner in Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike). The American won the Vuelta a España in 2023 and will work for Vingegaard, but is an able deputy. Tudor Pro Cycling rider Michael Storer is a fine climber who has placed 10th on GC at the previous two Giri d’Italia and, this season, fourth overall at the recent Tour of the Alps stage race. Expect to see the 29-year-old Aussie hunting down another high GC placing this month.

Movistar’s Enric Mas has ridden 14 Grand Tours already, but never the Giro – until now. With four Vuelta GC podiums and a brace of Tour top-sixes, expect to see him in the GC hunt. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Aleksandr Vlasov has two team-mates to ride for this year, but is easily capable of finishing in the top 10 as well. Fourth in 2021, he will take over leadership duties should injury or illness beset the other two mentioned in these pages.

Abandons

Adam Yates
33 | GBr | UAE Team Emirates-XRG
Previous Giro starts: 3
Best GC result: 9th (2017)
Best stage result: 4th (2015)

The UAE leader crashed heavily on stage two, and after showing delayed concussive symptoms was prevented from starting the next day.

Volta a Catalunya winner Jonas Vingegaard has spent two years fighting to regain his pre-crash form – and now might be even better than before. That is the view of Danish former pro and cycling pundit Nicki Sørensen, who was speaking after the Vingegaard's impressive ride to GC victory in the Spanish stage race last week.

Vingegaard echoed Sørensen's sentiments when they were put to him, saying he felt as though he'd spent two years fighting – without necessarily even knowing it.

"I feel like I've spent the last two years fighting my way back to that level – and in some way the Jonas I was before my crash," he told Danish outlet TV2. "I feel, without consciously knowing it, that it has had a greater influence than I thought."

The double Tour de France winner was involved in a brutal pile-up in the 2024 edition of Itzulia Basque Country. He suffered a punctured lung and broke a collarbone and several ribs. So bad were his injuries that the Dane said afterwards that he thought he was going to die. Incredibly, he managed to return to the Tour de France that year and finish second, but now both Vingegaard and Sørensen are convinced the effects were more lasting than they'd initially supposed.

"After the crash [he] had in the Basque Country... I don't think we saw the same Vingegaard until last year," said TV2 expert Sørensen, a former pro with CSC-Tiscali, among others. "He was missing something, and I don't know what it was. But it wasn't a Vingegaard at the same level as before the crash. But now he's maybe back there – or even better.

Vingegaard won back-to-back stages, both summit finishes, and the general classification in the seven-day race around northern Spain. In doing so he bested a host of high-finishing riders from last year's Tour de France, including Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) – it was no soft victory.

Lipowitz's team-mate Remco Evenepoel, who placed fifth, was also among those beaten by Vingegaard, but the Belgian's stage three crash left him below par.

It all bodes well for Vingegaard as he approaches his first big target of the season – the Giro d'Italia, which he is riding for the first time. He will then go on to ride the Tour de France in July, where he will take on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who is likely to present him with a significantly bigger challenge than any one he met last week.

Brady Gilmore (NSN Cycling) took the victory on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya around the traditional Montjuïc circuit, beating Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) on the bike throw in the final sprint to prevent the Frenchman from taking his third stage win of the race.

Attacks from the GC contenders had animated the stage, but none of them were able to stay away, meaning that a reduced peloton came to the finish in Barcelona. Coming off the descent of the final climb, the Australian rider put himself into a good position on the wheel of Godon and was able to emerge from the slipstream to snatch the win on the line.

“I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday,” said Gilmore in his post-race interview. “If there was a small group over the top and I could be there, knowing exactly where to open my sprint from watching the previous years, really studying it. I think about winning every day and that’s all I want to do, so to finally get a WorldTour win feels amazing.”

The race ignited after the early breakaway of five riders was caught on the third of seven ascents of the Alt del Castell de Montjuïc, with Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) twice attempting to go off the front, whilst overall leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was attentive in marking moves.

In the end though, none of the attacks were able to gain enough cooperation to go clear, with Vingegaard finishing safely in the front group along with all of the other GC contenders to secure the overall victory, with no changes in the top ten of the general classification.

“My main focus today was the GC,” said Vingegaard after the race. “I think the Red Bull guys did a very good job today, they made me be there alone and they tried to attack me on shifts, so they did a good job. Luckily I was able to defend myself and the GC. From there it was more thinking about the GC rather than trying to win the stage.”

On the week as a whole the Danish rider said, “It’s been a really nice week, together with a really nice team. We had a lot of fun. We won two stages and now the GC, so it’s been a really good week and I’m super happy with it. It’s been an amazing start to the year for me and I hope I can keep it going.”

“I feel very good at the moment,” he continued. “My shape is very good, but not the very best yet. We made a plan this year to progressively get better over the year, so I’m pretty sure I still have more in me.”

After his overall victory at Paris-Nice earlier this month, Vingegaard backed up that performance in Catalunya and now looks to be in imperious form, with his first major objective of the Giro d’Italia just over two months away.

Results

Volta a Catalunya 2026: Stage Seven, Barcelona > Barcelona (95km)

1. Brady Gilmore (Aus) NSN Cycling, in 2:06:44
2. Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
4. David González (Esp) Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling
5. Antoine L'Hote (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM
6. Senna Remijn (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech
7. Luca Vergallito (Ita) Alpecin-Premier Tech
8. Simone Gualdi (Ita) Lotto Intermarché
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious
10. Henok Mulubrhan (Eri) XDS Astana, all at same time

General Classification after Stage Seven

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 25:56:36
2. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:22
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:30
4. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:43
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +2:13
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:17
7. Matthias Skelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +4:11
8. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, +5:20
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5:25
10. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +5:36

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) rode all of his rivals off his wheel to take an imperious summit victory on stage five of the Volta a Cataluyna.

On what was a big day in the mountains, with 4,500m of vertical ascent, Vingegaard attacked with 6.5km of the final climb – the Col de Pall. Initially he dragged a handful of GC contenders with him, but they were distanced 500m later when the Dane turned on the afterburners.

Big loser of the day was Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), who was distanced by Vingegaard and those who followed him. He fell from third to sixth overall. Things were even worse for Tom Pidcock, who crashed into a ravine on the penultimate descent, and dropped from third to 74rd overall.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Vingegaard said: "It was quite a hard stage. We had a plan from the morning. I didn't feel the very very best in the beginning but on the last climb I felt very very good. My team did incredible. We had Davide [Piganzoli] in the breakaway so we didn't have to follow all day and then Sepp [Kuss] took over, and he made the difference for me in the end."

He said he was not expecting to make such a difference over his rivals, but because he felt so strong on the Col de Pall it allowed him to. "I'm really happy with the gap I made today," he said.

Asked whether Cataluyna would serve chiefly as preparation for other events later in the season – presumably such as the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France, he said: "No… it's a big race. I like to do big races, I like to win big races, and that's why I'm here also. And of course it's good preparation for what's coming up later in the season.

As for stage six, another mountain day, he said: "I'll not rule it out that we go for another stage. But we have to recover and see how we feel tomorrow. Of course, there are a lot of other riders in the bunch."

It was the first stage win of the race for Vingegaard, who began the day in fourth place overall at 24 seconds. Erstwhile leader Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) was dropped early on the final climb and finished well down, tumbling to 67th place on GC.

The 153km stage, from Le Seu d'Urgell to Col de Pall, was characterised by the early break that Vingegaard alluded to. As well as his team-mate Piganzoli it contained Einer Rubio (Movistar), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Impressively it survived until the lower reaches of the final climb, around which point Soler, Rubio and Piganzoli returned to help their teams and Ciccone forged on ahead. He initially maintained a useful gap on the chasing peloton but it began to fall and Vingegaard's attack at 6.5km was the final straw. After that there was little doubt who the winner would be.

Results

Volta a Catalunya 2026, stage 5: Le Seu d'Urgell > Col de Pall, 153km

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, 153km in 4:13:44
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +51s
3. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:01
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, at s.t.
5. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:03
6. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:38
7. Matthias Skelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +1:39
8. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS Astana
9. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar
10. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla, all at same time

General Classification after stage 5

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 19:44:45
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +57s
3. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:09
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:13
5. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:15
6. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:38
7. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +1:51
8. Matthias Skelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek
9. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar
10. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS Astana, all at same time

There are days until the 2026 Tour de France, with teams setting off down the start ramp of the team time trial in Barcelona on stage one on the afternoon of Saturday 4 July.

It is just hours until we will be tracking the world's best cyclists around l'Hexagone. You can read the full start list here, and check out the route guide while you're at it.

Therefore, we thought this would be the perfect time to assess the runners and riders that will likely take to the start line of the 113th edition of the race, all of whom will harbour some hope of pulling on the yellow jersey 23 days later in Paris. This is the Cycling Weekly power list.

There are two former winners on this list, and two Tour de France debutants, one of whom is also the next great hope of French cycling.

Of course, what no one can ignore is the fact Tadej Pogačar appears to be unbeatable. He won the last two Tours in such dominant fashion most people probably assume he's nailed on to win. But he isn't. A loss of form, injury or tactical miscalculation are never more than one bad day away.

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

Age: 27
Nationality: Slovenian
Tour de France appearances: 6
Tour de France overall wins: 4
Tour de France stage wins: 21
Best GC position: 1st

Indisputably the best male bike rider in the world, Tadej Pogačar has dominated the last two Tours de France, and there is little evidence that this is going to end soon. Last year he only won four stages on his way to overall victory by four minutes, despite suffering from a knee injury during the races latter stages.

This season, it has gone pretty well so far: 16 race days, 13 victories. An expected masterclass at Strade Bianche was followed by an epic sprint win at Milan-San Remo, edging the Slovenian closer to completing the set of Monuments.

He went on to win the Tour of Flanders, and finish second at Paris-Roubaix, before winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège again. The Slovenian won four stages and the overall at the Tour de Romandie, and then three stages and the overall at the Tour de Suisse.

It's hard to see where the cracks in Pogačar's armour are, although the route this year does not necessarily allow for him to crush all in his customary manner, although I'm sure he will try.

It's hard to bet against him.

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)

Age: 29
Nationality: Danish
Tour de France appearances: 5
Tour de France overall wins: 2
Tour de France stage wins: 4
Best GC position: 1st

Jonas Vingegaard's season couldn't have been more different to Tadej Pogačar's. There was no one-day racing, instead a total focus on stage races, and the Giro d'Italia was the priority before even beginning to think about the Tour.

The Dane, the reigning Vuelta a España champion, completed the set of Grand Tours with a Giro title in May, and hopes to then carry that form into the Tour in July. Pogačar completed the Giro-Tour double in 2024, so could Vingegaard do the same? It will be tricky, although he won the second Grand Tour he took part in last year.

Vingegaard did not race before Paris-Nice this year, due to illness, but his performance there certainly would have made many take notice.

He went on to win at the Volta a Catalunya, with two stage wins, before winning four stages en route to victory at the Giro by five minutes, another Pogačar-like ride.

3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

Age: 22
Nationality: Mexican
Tour de France appearances: 0
Tour de France overall wins: 0
Tour de France stage wins: 0
Best GC position: n/a

As Pogačar's teammate, Isaac del Toro not Plan A for UAE. If anything happens to the Slovenian, though, he would be thought of as a contender alongside Vingegaard.

Denied a maiden Grand Tour victory at the Giro d'Italia last year due to Simon Yates and Visma-Lease a Bike brilliance, and some odd tactics, the 22-year-old is clearly a rider who could win a Grand Tour, the question is just when.

In 2026, Del Toro has won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, to boot. He seems to be able to do it all, like his starrier teammate, it just remains to be seen whether he will be allowed to ride his own race or work fully in support of Pogačar. There could easily be a UAE one-two in Paris at the end of July.

4. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)

Age: 19
Nationality: French
Tour de France appearances: 0
Tour de France overall wins: 0
Tour de France stage wins: 0
Best GC position: n/a

The breakout rider of 2026 is Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old French star. There's a lot of pressure from France on the teenager's shoulders, but it doesn't appear to have affected him too much yet, with impressive performances at Algarve, the Faun-Ardèche Classic and Strade Bianche starting his season.

He went on to win Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne to send the hype machine into overdrive, before second-place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. However, he was forced to quit the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after crashing, which tampered expectations a bit.

We don't know how he will fare in a Grand Tour, considering he's never raced one before, let alone the behemoth which is the Tour. However, Decathlon definitely have a star on their hands.

5. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe)

Age: 26
Nationality: Belgian
Tour de France appearances: 2
Tour de France overall wins: 0
Tour de France stage wins: 2
Best GC position: 3rd

After the first few races of 2026, there was a lot of talk around Remco Evenepoel, including from myself. The Belgian won seven of his first 11 races this season, including Valenciana overall, and looked to have truly hit the ground running at his new team.

However, a disappointing end to the UAE Tour saw those expectations cooled, and there remains a bit of mystery around Evenepoel ahead of the Tour. He hasn't raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liége, and his last stage race was the Volta a Catalunya in March, where he finished third.

He still managed to finish third at the Tour of Flanders and Liège, winning the Amstel Gold Race in between, so all is not lost, but his form is unknown.

He will have a solid team, including last year's third-place, Florian Lipowitz, so will have more backing than he ever did at Soudal Quick-Step. That said, though, it is still a bit up-in-the-air if he can deliver on the same level as Vingegaard over three weeks and over the high mountains, let alone Pogačar.

6. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek)

Age: 23
Nationality: Spanish
Tour de France appearances: 1
Tour de France overall wins: 0
Tour de France stage wins: 0
Best GC position: n/a

Juan Ayuso hit the ground running at Lidl-Trek, winning the Volta ao Algarve in his first race at his new team, before an untimely crash took him out of Paris-Nice while he was in the race lead.

He failed to finish Itzulia Basque Country, too, but returned to form at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where he finished third behind his former teammate Isaac del Toro.

The Spaniard, free of super-domestique duties at UAE Team Emirates, can now show his old team what they're missing, although he is yet to thread together a complete performance at a Grand Tour. That said, he has finished third and fourth overall at the Vuelta.

Lidl have been building a solid GC team, and with Ayuso at the point of the spear, are serious contenders.

7. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5)

Age: 26
Nationality: British
Tour de France appearances: 3
Tour de France overall wins: 0
Tour de France stage wins: 1
Best GC position: 13th

Third at the Vuelta a España last year, second at Milan-San Remo, a winner four times this year, Tom Pidcock is clearly a star of the peloton. However, he's on the record as not going for GC at the Tour, instead aiming for a stage win.

This will be Pinarello Q36.5's aim at their debut at the biggest race of them all, but there's also no reason why Pidcock couldn't aim at the top 10, if not higher, at the Tour. He proved last summer that he can ride Grand Tours, after years of promise, and this Tour could suit him.

Best of the rest

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) was sixth at the Tour last year, and could easily repeat that again in July. He was fifth at the recent Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Fellow top-10 finisher Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) will surely be aiming for stage wins over GC, but he could defy expectations again.

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) was third last year, but has moved out of the limelight with the arrival of Evenepoel to his team, but is a fantastic option for his squad, and it would not be a surprise were he to shine brighter than his starrier teammate. Other teammates of riders of the list to watch out for include Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), although one would think these are secondary or tertiary choices for the overall.

Netcompany-Ineos' Kévin Vaquelin finished in the top 10 last season, but for different teams. He finished in the top 10 of the Volta ao Algarve, Paris-Nice and Itzulia Basque Country this year. Alongside double-stage winner from last year Thymen Arensman, they are the British team's best hopes for the top 10.

Also with the chance of finishing high are Antonio Tiberi and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla).

Remco Evenepoel has said he is "good" to continue at the Volta a Catalunya despite his pothole crash on Wednesday.

The Belgian crashed at the end of stage three of the Volta a Catalunya due to an unmarked hole, he claimed.

However, despite saying he had "pain everywhere", on Thursday morning he said: "Good news all is good. It stopped me yesterday, but not for the week."

The Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider was ahead of the peloton with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on stage three, when he fell on the approach to a roundabout.

The incident was initially inexplicable, with Vingegaard telling reporters that he didn't know what happened: "He just went over the handlebars."

Vingegaard sat up, allowing the peloton to catch him, which meant the stage finished in a sprint, won by Dorian Godon of Ineos Grenadiers. Evenepoel lost no time overall due to the incident being within the final 5km of the race.

"I wanted to move to the drops and at that moment there was a hole in the road that I didn’t see, and it wasn’t marked. Then I lost my handlebars," Evenepoel told Sporza later on Wednesday.

Potholes, then, are an issue beyond the UK. The Olympic champion crashed hard, which could have an impact beyond taking him out of the race on Wednesday.

"I have pain everywhere," Evenepoel explained of his injuries. "My elbow is open [cut or grazed], my back is open and my hips are open," he said. "My elbow is quite badly hit, so we have to see what is possible and what is not."

The Belgian received immediate attention following the fall, and managed to remount his bike and finish the stage, and is still second on general classification.

"Now I need to let my body recover a bit and then we will see this evening and especially tomorrow morning what it says," Evenepoel added. Stage four finishes up an hors categorie climb to Vallter, 11.4km at 7.5%.

Evenepoel and Vingegaard escaped in crosswinds with just under 30km to go on stage three, with the former escaping first, and the latter following. However, cooperation did not always seem smooth between the pair, with Evenepoel visibly remonstrating with his break companion.

"What others do tactically is not my concern," Evenepoel said. "That’s their problem. It was clear who wanted to ride for the win and who didn’t."

For his part, Vingegaard explained: "At some points he wasn't really happy with me, but that's how it is, it's cycling, we have our tactics."

Remco Evenepoel clutched defeat from the jaws of victory on stage three of the Volta a Catalunya as he crashed in a chaotic finale.

The Belgian Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider came down around 500m from the finish line while out front with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), ahead of the on-rushing peloton, as the pair approached a roundabout.

It was not immediately apparent what caused the crash, which might have been a touch of wheels, but it took all the impetus from the attack, with Vingegaard sitting up as a result.

Evenepoel was checked by his team and the race doctor before remounting to ride on and cross the finish line, seemingly escaping serious injury.

Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) took his second stage win of the race, sprinting to victory ahead of Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling) and Noah Hobbs (EF Education-EasyPost).

"To be honest I don't know, he just went over the handlebars and I just hope he's ok," Vingegaard said when asked what happened post-race on TNT Sports. "It looked really crazy, and I hope he's ok.

"I didn't want to take advantage of a situation like that so I decided at that moment to just wait for the bunch. I hope he's ok, and he can continue tomorrow."

Evenepoel and Vingegaard had escaped in crosswinds with just under 30km to go on stage three, with the former escaping first, and the latter following. Their advantage went over 25 seconds at times, before coming down below 10 inside the final 5km. However, inside the final kilometre, the pair still had a few seconds advantage, and victory looked to be on the cards. The roundabout crash put paid to that.

"I didn't expect it like this, I expected it more to be a bigger group," Vingegaard continued. "He went, I jumped across to him, and he was very strong on the flat, he's very aero obviously. Very strong at the moment. I'm happy I could jump across and work a bit with him.

Asked about the cooperation between the pair the Dane added: "At some points he wasn't really happy with me, but that's how it is, it's cycling, we have our tactics."

It was Godon's second stage win of the race, and third WorldTour victory of the year for Ineos Grenadiers, who he signed for this season.

"Today I wanted to win again, it was not so hard at the beginning..." the French champion said. "Then it was a lot of stress and tension, then I saw Remco full alone with Vingegaard. All the riders on the team did an amazing job to catch them, Oscar and Bob did a leadout for me, so it was amazing.

"I was fully concentrating on the sprint, that's it," he said of Evenepoel's crash. "For me, we caught them and I went for the win."

Godon remains in the race lead, 11 seconds ahead of Evenepoel, with Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) in third. Vingegaard moved up to fourth overall due to bonus seconds gained.

Around 10km from where Jonas Vingegaard is from, in northern Denmark, is the town of Nykøbing Mors, where the writer Aksel Sandemose was born. The writer lives on, half a century after his death, through the Law of Jante, or Janteloven in Danish.

The ten rules, which were written satirically, have taken on a more sincere meaning now, and essentially boil down to the following: you should not think you're anything special, or that you’re better than anyone else. When you think of the reserved, quiet, family-oriented Vingegaard, it does not seem a giant leap to think of Janteloven.

The Vimsa-Lease a Bike rider has always been unflashy, someone who lets his legs do the talking.Already a two-time Tour de France winner, it's unfortunate, perhaps, that Vingegaard's heyday has coincided with that of Tadej Pogačar, a rider who makes even cycling's greats look like mere mortals.

In the era of Pogačar, this year to date even, there have been a few other riders touted as alternatives to UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s domination. We’ve had the hype around Remco Evenepoel at Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, the breakthrough of the teenage Paul Seixas, and the new start for Juan Ayuso at Lidl-Trek.

However, the one true alternative has always been Vingegaard. It was he and Visma-Lease a Bike who toppled Pogačar at the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, and we could hardly rule out this happening again. Of course, living with Janteloven, it’s hardly something he is going to crow about, but the signs are good, at least for the first part of his Giro d’Italia-Tour de France plan this year.

The Dane had not raced before Paris-Nice this year, due to illness, but his performances last week certainly would have made many take notice. He won by over four minutes, a crushing performance across eight stages; his biggest rivals might have been absent, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and Vingegaard did it on an almost unmatched scale, with the largest winning margin since the Second World War. It was a Pogačar-esque performance.

Not that it was designed as a message. Vingegaard said post-race: “I think for me, it's just about racing, trying to win the races that I'm doing and this was my first race of the year. And, I'm just extremely happy with how everything went here.”

To all accounts Vingegaard currently presents a relaxed figure; perhaps knowing that all he can do is perform his best and hope things fall into place. If you know that you are racing against possibly the best-ever in Pogačar, there might just be some freedom in knowing that you’re not really expected to match him – so it is your job to prove people wrong, and just ride your own race.

Next on the list for 2026 is the Volta a Catalunya next week, where he will face off against Evenepoel and Pogačar’s team-mate João Almeida; a solid performance will boost confidence to their heights, ahead of the Giro d’Italia in May. The Italian Grand Tour could be a useful distraction, something to focus on before the Tour de France rolls around. He can say in interview that his aim is the Giro, and that nothing else matters – if he wins there, and completes the set, then the Tour is kind of a free hit. It seems like an enlightened plan. The Giro is clearly not a done deal, but Vingegaard has the ability to win it, and then anything can happen.

Cycling needs a strong alternative to Pogačar and UAE in stage races, just as Mathieu van der Poel offers a counterpoint in the Classics. Vingegaard might shun the limelight, understandably so, but he’s the person fans need to challenge the hegemony.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Last week saw an exciting week of racing in the men's WorldTour, with some of the best riders in the peloton split across two decent-sized early-season stage races: Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy and Paris-Nice in France.

Much of the action was gratifyingly mountainous – or at the very least, hilly – resulting in some engaging battles. There were plenty of thrills and no lack of spills – one of which put Grand Tour star Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) out of action. Some of the results were more predictable than others, and not everyone will be going home with a smile on their faces. Here's a snapshot of what cycling showed us last week.

1. UAE has a wunderkind

Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) may have experienced a certain reluctance about beating his friend Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in the latter's home town of Camerino on Saturday's Tirreno-Adriatico stage, but the fact he did it anyway speaks volumes.

The Mexican is, not unlike his more famous Slovenian team-mate, clearly a born winner and that victory at the end of a lumpy, 188km stage dotted the i's and crossed the t's on his overall victory the following day.

Del Toro made the short journey back to his San Marino base with the GC, points and youth classifications under his belt and, at just 22 years old, is clearly destined for great things. Not that we didn't know that already, but every victory amplifies it.

2. Jonas Vingegaard is back on top

After a bumpy start to the season involving run-ins with fans, crashes and illness, it was gratifying to see Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) looking back to something like his best at Paris-Nice.

The Dane won two lumpy mid-race stages as well as all the classifications available to him – general, mountains and points. He came very close to winning the final stage in Nice too, but was pipped on the line by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious).

Vingegaard's performance in France won't exactly have Grand Tour nemesis Tadej Pogačar quaking in his DMTs, but it won't have gone entirely unnoticed by the Slovenian either.

3. Félicitations to the French

Paris-Nice saw another branch negotiated in the slow but sure climb of French cycling back to the top of the tree – and that was without a Paul Seixas in sight.

Gallic riders from a variety of teams helped make the race throughout, filling out five of the top-12 on stage two for example and half the top-10 on Saturday's stage six. Among them, Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers) was the most successful on GC with fourth place, but he was followed by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) in fifth – who also rounded out the race with a win on the final stage that saw him outsprint Jonas Vingegaard one-on-one. Also contributing to the Gallic glow of success was Vaquelin's team-mate Dorian Godon, who won a truncated stage six.

4. Ineos Grenadiers "on the way back"

The British-registered team have come in for a fair bit of flak in recent seasons, but their rides across both races last week gave them much to be confident about going into the next part of this season.

Their stage three team time trial victory at Paris-Nice will likely be among the team's biggest celebrations, as it was such a collaborative effort, and the scaffolding for Kévin Vauquelin's high GC finish. Afterwards new DS Geraint Thomas himself said: "We've had a rough couple of years but we're on the way back now," showing that the previous paucity of results and what now looks like a bit of a turnaround has not been lost on the team.

Its riders also claimed a one-two in the the Tirreno-Adriatico stage one ITT via Filippo Ganna and Thymen Arensman, while dogged prodding by Dorian Godon and Vauqelin throughout Paris-Nice ultimately resulted in a late stage win for Godon and that GC fourth for his team-mate.

5. Picnic PostNL yet to deliver

Not all teams have as much to celebrate as Ineos Grenadiers and others. Only eight of the 18 WorldTour teams registered stage or GC wins across Tirreno and Paris-Nice combined, leaving plenty going without. However, one team has still to hit the mark at all this year and would have been less than pleased to miss out – Picnic PostNL.

Neither the men's nor the women's squads of the Dutch-registered team have won so far, with the men in the unenviable position of having lost 75% of their four winners from last season with Oscar Onley and Tobias Lund Andresen having changed teams, and Nils Eeckhoff out after having an operation on his iliac artery.

The men's team has registered two podium finishes, although compared with UAE Team Emirates-XRG's 10 wins and 37 podiums, it's quite the contrast. The season is young though. No doubt Picnic PostNL will deliver the goods in due course.

Forget Tirreno-Adriatico, forget Strade Bianche post-race hot takes, all everyone is talking about online this week is Jonas Vingegaard. In a rain-soaked fourth stage of Paris-Nice, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider’s unique bib-over-jersey combination has shaken the internet. From the bemused to the horrified, the reactions have been epic.

Plus, this fashion scandal has revealed a cornerstone of the cycling world that had hitherto gone unnoticed by me: the Velominati rules. 95 guidelines for road cyclists, from road rules to the importance of bike maintenance and cleanliness.

Jonas Vingegaard has, by the sounds of it, broken one of the manual's most sacrosanct: know what to wear. On the other hand, does a wardrobe shake-up always have to be headline news? Kudos to him, I say.

1. Potholes are everywhere. They are inescapable.

2. "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." We've all grown up hearing it, but Lorena Wiebes and the women of the peloton are proving that strength blasts that old saying out of the water.

3. Out with the old, in with the new: “squats for watts” is the mantra we’ll be taking into training this year.

4. Two dopamine triggers collide: good old fashioned slow-release endorphins and that deliciously *bad* doom scroll bliss. Not sure I’ve felt this personally attacked for a while - respect the ingenuity though.

5. Bit of gravel, bit of track, bit of cobbles - and pastries. This is two days with UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders Tadej Pogačar and Florian Vermeersch. Paris-Roubaix incoming...

6. Hard, dusty work at Strade Bianche last week. Bjorn Koerdt, a 21-year-old rider for Picnic PostNL finished 37th in the race

7. It was disco ball turbo training sessions for cross-country athlete, Evie Richards this week as she celebrated her 29th birthday.

8. Now for the reaction we’ve all been waiting for: Jonas Vingegaard’s fashion faux pas. This one made me laugh out loud. Vingegaard arrested for breaking rule 18 of the Veluminati code: know what to wear.

9. An outfit so bad, even us amateurs could replicate it. All we need are a pair of finishing trousers and a yellow bike - easy?

10. This content creator has taken a harder-line approach. “In case we’re confused, this is a no.”

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) soloed to back-to-back stage wins at Paris-Nice and extended his general classification lead on stage five.

The Dane attacked with 21km to go en route to Colombier-le-Vieux, kicking away from the peloton on a 13% gradient as he approached the summit of the second of three finishing climbs.

His victory photo, taken only a few hundred kilometres south of his win on Wednesday, seemed a world away. This time there were no grey skies, freezing rain or faux pas bib tight straps over his jersey, but rather a sun-dappled scene, lighting up his yellow leader’s jersey.

Having started the day with a GC advantage of 52 seconds, Vingegaard now leads the race by 3:22 ahead of Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

"It's been an amazing day for me and for the team," Vingegaard said afterwards.

"We wanted to win and take as much time as possible. Now I took a good amount of time. Once again, I want to thank my team-mates a lot for today. They deserve the champagne tonight."

As the two-time Tour de France winner approached the finish line, he leant forward and kissed his handlebars, where he had placed a sticker of his wife and two children.

He then celebrated by stretching his arms out wide, toasting his second victory in as many days – an impressive haul for a rider who only decided to race Paris-Nice after a crash forced him to skip the UAE Tour.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the line, Vingegaard's team-mate Victor Campenaerts said the Dane is in "extremely good shape".

"Killer Jonas destroyed everybody," Campenaerts smiled. "He’s been very relaxed from December training camp and feeling very ready for it. Clearly when we came to Paris-Nice, already beforehand, [the goal] wasn’t to do race miles or whatever. It was to come here and smash it."

The Belgian helped set up Vingegaard's winning attack on stage five. After spending the day embedded in the breakaway, Campenaerts dropped back into the peloton and towed Vingegaard up to speed, catapulting him up the double-figure slope, before grinding to a near halt himself.

The race leader then ploughed alone through the hills of the Ardèche. By the time he reached the final climb, his advantage stood at around 40 seconds, which he doubled over the summit to hold off the chasing Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) by 2:02.

Though he now leads by a comfortable three-minute cushion, Vingegaard assured that the race is "not over".

"There are still three stages left, where a lot of things can happen," he said. "We just have to keep the focus until Nice."

Friday's sixth stage will take the peloton 179.2km from Barbentane to Apt, ahead of the weekend's finale.

Results

Paris-Nice, stage five: Cormoranche-sur-Saône > Colombier-le-Vieux (206km)

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 4:29:01
2. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +2:20
3. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +2:20
4. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious
5. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis
6. Dani Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
7. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
9. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Marc Soler (Esp) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, all at same time

General classification after stage five

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 17:22:06
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:22
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +5:50
4. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:09
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +7:37
6. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +8:15
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, +9:02
8. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +10:06
9. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, +10:16
10. Oscar Onley (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +11:23

What a kerfuffle. Jonas Vingegaard's sartorial faux pas yesterday appears to have grown wings of epic proportions and morphed into memes, stories and more memes that we will probably still be talking about in this December's Season Review pieces.

I could imagine less fuss being made if Leonardo DiCaprio arrived at the Oscars with his underpants on the outside, but hey, welcome to cycling.

For those who missed the fun, the Dane took his first win of the season at Paris-Nice yesterday, and marked the occasion by soloing across the line sporting his bib tights on the outside.

Smiling sheepishly afterwards, he explained that it wasn't part of any bold new look – more the fact that the racing had been so full-on that he hadn't had a chance to remove them. Too late. The internet was already on fire.

On the one hand, it is understandable. After all, if one of the world's top racers, with access to an almost unlimited wardrobe of Hollywood proportions, can't get it right, who can? But on the other hand, is it time cycling toned down its obsession with the perfect look?

What does it say that, from one of the most memorable day's racing of the season, where the weather was disgusting, major riders decking it like skittles and Tadej Pogačar's biggest rival showing a touch of brilliant, our biggest takeaway is his wardrobe malfunction.

There's no hand-wringing involved in taking this viewpoint. After all, Vingegaard's Steptoe & Son turn was pretty funny and he thought so too. But I find the whole 'style above all' obsession is so alien. (My friends and family, familiar with my extensive collection of ageing garments, will be nodding sagely at this point).

But… take the whole Velominati thing. Tongue in cheek or not, a lot of people swore by that book of cycling rules (many of which were style-related), and some probably still do. But the last time I wore my cycling shades on the outside of my helmet straps they fell off and nearly got run over by a car. Sock length, perfectly matched kit all the time, every time... the list is extensive. Life, I feel, is way too short for such trivialities.

It is no doubt all added to by the sumptuous kit launches we see each year by the pro teams, which have become a major and multi-layered branding exercise. The hastily-grabbed snapshot of a rider looking slightly awkward and entirely unprepared is no longer the way of introducing new team attire to the world.

Perhaps my own attitude stems from my earliest forays into cycling with the local CTC group (yes, I realise they do get mentioned here a fair bit): today in wet weather everyone wears the Gabba uniform – back then it was capes that stretched all the way over the handlebars and were perfectly matched to... not a damn thing. And no one was any less happy or fulfilled for it.

Of course, Vingegaard isn't the first pro whose attire has missed the mark. Mario Cipollini had the sort of provocative wardrobe that would have made a Milan catwalk designer blanche and while it was occasionally worked it usually left people either scratching their heads or pulling the sort of face usually reserved for very bad smells.

What about AG2R La Mondiale's brown shorts? They ploughed a brave and questionable furrow through the peloton for more than 10 years. Even back in the 1980s when racing bikes were universally beautiful with lithe steel frames dripping with polished alloy components, the French Castorama team had the temerity to dress its riders in workman's dungarees – or at least a kit designed to look like them.

We should definitely all keep having fun with this stuff – cycling would be an awfully serious sport without it. But equally, let's remember it's not just style – as Vingegaard showed us yesterday it's substance too, dodgy bibs or not.

Jonas Vingegaard had a very successful day on stage four of Paris-Nice, winning by 41 seconds, moving into the race lead, and surely securing at least a top-two position overall.

However, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider went viral not for his performances on the bike, but his attire, which was unorthodox to say the least.

On a torrid day of inclement weather in the centre of France on Wednesday, riders were dressed in waterproof jackets, gloves, bib tights and overshoes; the kind of kit you might wear in deep winter, rather than in a WorldTour race.

However, as the race was full-on, and various layers were taken off, it became apparent that Vingegaard had gone a step further, and put his bib tights over his jersey.

The Tour de France winner was in fact wearing a second pair of bib tights over his normal ones, but with the chamois pad removed and the waist cut in order to make them fit over his, well, base bib tights. According to Sporza, the bib tight-surgery was done by Victor Campenaerts, Vingegaard's teammate, piece-by-piece, in order that the Dane's saddle height wouldn't have to be adjusted due to the extra padding.

"I think a lot of guys were freezing today. I personally didn't freeze because I had a lot of clothes on, that was also maybe the reason I couldn't take it off," Vingegaard said post-stage.

He added: "It was just full gas racing, there was not even time to take clothes off. So maybe you can call me a trendsetter with the long pants, but there was just no time to take them off."

"To keep me warm in the beginning, I wore the extra-long pants," the Dane explained further on Thursday. "We prepared the bibs so that two teammates could easily rip them off.

"After that, I could just take the parts on my legs off like leg warmers. In the end, the race was so hard that there were never two teammates around to tear the bibs off," he explained.

It was not only the bib tights which were novel, but Vingegaard was also wearing an extra jacket backwards underneath his outer one. One could speculate that this was to introduce an extra barrier, a move done out of a desire to just be a bit more warm and dry.

In the chaos of stage four, it appeared there was no time for Vingegaard to take all of his innovative clothing options off – not that it mattered in the end, given he won the stage and is now the overwhelming favourite to win the race overall.

Whether Nimbl, Visma-Lease a Bike's kit sponsors, will now introduce the Vingegaard hacks for deep winter, time will tell.

Paris-Nice
8-15 March
1,206km
France

The first major European stage race of the year is Paris-Nice, the opening step on the road to the Tour de France in July. Run by the same organisers, ASO, the 'Race to the Sun' takes places over eight stages from the Île-de-France, just outside Paris, to Nice and the Mediterranean coast.

Winners haven't always gone on to win the biggest events of the year, but in the last 10 years Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Egan Bernal have all won. There have been 84 editions, the last two of which have been won by Matteo Jorgenson.

Here's the things you should be looking out for at this year's race.

Jonas Vingegaard is back

The Dane has delayed his season start after illness, but he will be back in action at Paris-Nice, where he will be looking to have a better time than last year, when he suffered concussion. A lack of a GC title here feels like a gap in the Visma-Lease a Bike career, that he will be keen to fill in.

Wind at the Race to the Sun

When one thinks of Paris-Nice, crosswinds loom large. As the race crosses central France, the corners and the famous named winds of the country come into play - the Mistral, the Tramontane and others. GC riders will have to be alert to not miss out on splits in the peloton, because it might ruin a race early on, before the big climbs even come into the picture.

A race to the sun?

The Race to The Sun might be its nickname, but given this is early March, weather is a bit changeable. As things stand, it looks like the eight-stage race will be the Race of the Sun rather than to the sun, as it looks fair across France across all of the week this far out. Previous editions have been rather wetter.

No room for sprints

Traditionally, Paris-Nice has been a solid warm-up race for the Classics, offering the hard men the chance to fine tune their form ahead of the key cobbled races. This year is no different, but there is only one nailed-on sprint stage, so there isn’t much on offer for the out-and-out fast men. Tirreno isn’t much kinder, either.

Tirreno-Adriatico is on too

Run concurrently, Tirreno-Adriatico is the other option for riders looking to get some kilometres in their legs in early March. There isn’t quite as much climbing in Italy, but the lineup is still good, with Mathieu van der Poel, Isaac del Toro and Wout van Aert all taking part in the seven-stage race on the other side of the Alps.

Focus on the TTT

All three big ASO-run stage races this year feature a team time trial, culminating in the big one at the Tour de France on stage one. They have been present in the last few editions of Paris-Nice, with the new-ish system where riders are given individual times at the finish, rather than as a team. This one looks relatively flat over 23.5km, with just 213 metres of climbing, so it is best tackled with as many riders as possible. Expect teams testing things out before the Tour.

There has already been one TTT this season, at the Challenge Mallorca, where Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe powered to victory with a team including Remco Evenepoel. In the past three editions of Paris-Nice, it has been won by Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates, so expect the super-teams to be on the podium.

The route

How to watch

It is on TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, accessible via a TV package or a Discovery+ subscription. Find out more in our how to watch Paris-Nice guide.

Last year’s podium

1. Matteo Jorgenson
2. Florian Lipowitz
3. Thymen Arensman

Riders to watch

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) ****

The Dane is yet to race this season, so his form is a bit of a mystery. The only things we know about his 2026 are that he crashed in training and he was ill, but things have to turn around at some point… Targeting the Giro-Tour double.

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) ****

Another man who will be at the Giro is Almeida, who is yet to quite replicate his stunning stage racing form from last year, when he won three WorldTour stage races. Second at Valenciana and third at Algarve hint at someone working towards his best.

Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) *****

The man who beat Almeida at the Volta ao Algarve was Juan Ayuso, who therefore is the GC favourite with a GC win to his name this season. The Spaniard is still finding his feet at Lidl-Trek, but given the backing of a whole team, will hope to deliver the promise that he showed at UAE. His goal is the Tour.

Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers) ****

Also targeting the Tour not the Giro is Onley, who impressed on his first outing in Ineos Grenadiers colours in Portugal last month. A win here would cement the Scot as one to watch this season, and prove that the British team were right to sign him, breaking him out of his previous contract.

Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) ****

There are not many opportunities for sprinters, but given the Eritrean is a bit more of a puncheur, he could well thrive in this lumpy edition of Paris-Nice. His only appearance at the race came in 2022, when he had three top 10s, but he has won twice already this season, so it is time for that to change.

Jonas Vingegaard is to make a surprise return to racing next week at Paris-Nice, after delaying his season due to illness.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was due to start his season at the UAE Tour, but decided to skip it after crashing during training and subsequently falling ill. It will be the Dane's third Paris-Nice, after finishing third overall behind Tadej Pogačar in 2023, and last year, when he left the race partway through after crashing and suffering concussion.

Matteo Jorgenson, also of Visma-Lease a Bike, has won the last two editions, although the American is not racing Paris-Nice in 2026. The race runs from Saturday 8 March to Sunday 15 March.

Vingegaard, who won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, was victorious at the Vuelta a España last year, and is now targeting the Grand Tour treble in the Giro d’Italia, which he will ride for the first time this spring.

After his UAE Tour withdrawal, the Giro and the Volta a Catalunya were the only races on his calendar before July’s Tour, but that has now been rejigged. It is not known whether Vingegaard will still race Catalunya, which begins on the 23 March. The Giro begins on the 8 May in Bulgaria.

"I am excited to be at the start of Paris-Nice once again. It is a prestigious race with a lot of history. As a team, we have a title to defend here," he said in a team statement. Matteo Jorgenson has won the race for Visma for the past two years, but is skipping the race for a more Classics-focused spring.

"After crashing and falling ill, I took the necessary time to recover. Now I feel ready to start racing again and am looking forward to it after a long winter of training."

Vingegaard crashed his bike last month after being followed by an amateur cyclist on a descent near Malaga, Spain.

Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG team has taken to shielding him using motorcycle outriders, after a recent string of fan-related incidents.

Fans were looking for social media exposure, UAE team boss Matxin Joxean Fernández told Spanish media outlet AS, but sometimes the consequences could be negative for the pro cyclist involved.

“This is about moments and getting more views, something that's very fashionable these days," Fernández said. "I've seen some very complicated situations where many cyclists, caught up in the excitement, start recording in the middle of the road. If at that moment a cyclist gives you a rude response because you see a car coming towards you when you're encroaching on the opposite lane, the one who probably comes out looking bad is the one who gives that response, when the context is completely different.

"What we see is what we perceive as right or wrong. Sometimes we don't consider the full context of the situation.'

A recent Spanish training camp saw the team post a motorcycle outrider to protect the popular Slovenian and to stop the situation becoming unsafe.

"An example of situations we've had during our training camp in Alicante: we had a motorcycle to protect Tadej, because we ride in small groups," said Fernández. "If you have groups of 20, the cars behind can't overtake them. So we ride in groups of eight, but if cyclists join in, they become too large.

"Now, what we do is put a motorcycle behind Tadej to ensure that the small group is respected and that cars can pass without creating a traffic jam.”

The Tour de France champion posted a ride on his Strava account last week imploring fans to be more respectful, after he was sworn at by a fan who became impatient to have his picture taken with the star. And Pogačar is not the only rider to have fallen foul of fan attention lately – Jonas Vingegaard crashed last month on a training ride while attempting to drop an unwelcome fan on a descent. The Dane then had to miss the UAE Tour.

Finally, Fernández struck what felt like a conciliatory note in an attempt to foster empathy between both sides, saying "we have to put ourselves in each other's shoes".

"If we make a mistake at any point, we apologise," he said. "If, as Tadej said, you're talking and someone asks you for a photo while we're doing this interview, you ask them to wait and they get angry... Who's right? The one who gets angry or the one who asks for two minutes of patience?

"We all have to put ourselves in each other's shoes, as they say in Italian. We have to be willing to apologise and be respectful.”

As if the surprise loss of his mountain super-domestique Simon Yates wasn't enough, Jonas Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike team are now facing the departure of his coach Tim Heemskerk, it was announced yesterday.

Just like Yates's retirement, the loss of Heemskerk – who has been at the team for eight years – has a very 'last-minute' air, coming as it does at the very outset of the new season.

Heemskerk, 50, had been in charge of Visma's GC riders under the leadership of head of performance Mathieu Heijboer, but said that he had found it hard to apply "creativity and passion" at the Dutch team in recent times.

"Over the past period, I have noticed that I was struggling to continue applying my creativity and passion, which are important to me in my work as a coach," he said. "That was the moment for me to be honest with myself and with the team.

"I look back with pride on the growth of the team, myself, and the riders, including of course Jonas. In the coming period, I will take some time for myself and reflect on my future."

Beyond the loss of Yates, Vingegaard's season has already been compromised by illness and injury. He crashed in training two weeks ago, apparently trying to drop an amateur rider who had been tailing him on a downhill near Malaga in southern Spain.

Vingegaard was reported by the team as being "okay" and sustaining no serious injury, but he went on to fall ill and was ultimately ruled out of the UAE Tour, which starts next week.

That leaves only two races between now and the Tour de France for the Dane – the Volta a Catalunya at the end of March and his much-talked about Giro d'Italia participation.

That leaves an awful lot of time in which his training will have to do the heavy lifting, and it will have to happen under a new coach too. Visma-Lease a Bike says Vingegaard – along with Heemskerk's other riders – will be transferred to another team coach, although they have not confirmed who yet.

"We are extremely grateful to Tim for the contribution he has made to the team over the past years," Heijboer said in a team statement. "He has played a major role in the development of the training philosophy we apply within the team and in achieving our sporting results. Over the past period, I have had many conversations with Tim, and I believe this is the best outcome. I wish him all the best in the next stage of his career."

Jonas Vingegaard will not make his season debut at this month’s UAE Tour as planned, choosing instead to recover after crashing during training and subsequently falling ill.

The two-time Tour de France winner fell off his bike last week after being followed by an amateur cyclist on a descent near Malaga, Spain.

Vingegaard was due to open his 2026 season at the UAE Tour on 16 February, but now may not race until his next confirmed event: the Volta a Catalunya at the end of March.

“I was really looking forward to returning to the UAE Tour and am therefore disappointed that we have had to make this decision,” the Dane said in a statement shared by his team, Visma-Lease a Bike.

“However, the combination of the crash and subsequent illness made it necessary. It is better to fully recover first so that I can then focus on my next goals.”

Following his crash last week, Visma-Lease a Bike released a statement saying Vingegaard was “okay” and did not sustain any “serious injuries”.

The team also urged restraint from the public towards their riders. “For both your own and others’ wellbeing, please allow riders to train and give them as much space and peace as possible,” the statement read.

Vingegaard, who won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, earned his first Vuelta a España title last year, and is now targeting the Grand Tour treble in the Giro d’Italia, which he will ride for the first time this spring.

After his UAE Tour withdrawal, the Giro and the Volta a Catalunya are the only races on his calendar before July’s Tour de France.

“Having the Tour de France in mind, if you do too much in the spring, you will pay for it in the Tour,” the Dane told Wielerflits last month. “After the Tour, we’re going to see where I am, how I feel, and then we decide if that’s season [finished] or if we plan some more [races].”

I can barely open my laptop these days without someone spotting me. Wherever I am, but especially when I'm in my usual workplaces, like my flat or at my local cafe, it's hard to get on with my work without being mobbed. I'll just be there, typing away, when someone shoves their phone in my face for a selfie, or perhaps they'll just sit behind me, aping me, in order they can tell their friends or post on social media about how close they got to Adam Becket.

Sure, I'm a bit of a giveaway, when I'm wearing my full Cycling Weekly kit head to toe, and I am working in public spaces, but that's my prerogative.

This is obviously a flight of fancy, but it appears to be the life that some professional cyclists have to live at the moment. In this age of Instagram Reels, TikTok and Strava, riders, especially if they're better known, face constant bothering.

If you're Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard or Mathieu van der Poel, and you're on a training ride, especially in the Spanish hotspots of Calpe or the Sierra Nevada, you will be subject to regular, seemingly endless, attention. In recent weeks, I've seen videos of all sorts of pro cyclists doing their job while fans or regular riders try to get close with their cameras.

Unlike us normal people, and most athletes too, riders have to do their training in the real world, on real roads. It's part of what we love about cycling, that it happens in places we can all access, but it also allows for behaviour which gets in the way, disrupts, or perhaps makes pros feel uncomfortable.

This all came to a head this week when Jonas Vingegaard crashed on a training ride, purportedly after he attempted to get away from an amateur cyclist. In the aftermath, his Visma-Lease a Bike team urged fans and other riders to "give them [their pro cyclists] as much space and peace as possible".

There is nothing to suggest that the other cyclist involved in the Vingegaard incident did anything to provoke the Dane, other than cycling near him.

Pedro García Fernández, who posted on Strava about the incident, wrote: "You can be professional, but you can also be humble. Jonas fell while trying to leave me behind... When I stopped to ask how he was, he got angry with me for following him down. He was going down fast just to leave me behind and ended up on the ground."

However, it does not take much of a reach to understand why Vingegaard might have been trying to ride off, and then his anger when he crashed. The 29-year-old will face attention all the time, people riding on his wheel, trying to get close to the two-time Tour de France winner.

It's nothing new, but it's amplified in the social media age, with people chasing views. It isn't a huge leap to thinking it would be a stressful situation, something Vingegaard would want to get away from. Even if it was just someone riding on his wheel, it could be uncomfortable.

Last year I wrote about my strong dislike of people riding on my wheel when I don't know them, especially when they make no effort to be polite or introduce themselves. "If you’re the kind of person who drafts, maybe it’s time to take a look in a mirror," I wrote. That applies to pro cyclists too.

The roads are free for everyone to use, of course, but why not have a bit of respect and thought and give a pro cyclist space? This is not confined to riders, obviously, but there is more potential danger to getting in someone's space while cycling as opposed to bothering a celebrity you've spotted at a local restaurant. Incidentally, I would still advocate disturbing a famous person anywhere with the utmost of politeness and respect, but that's just my manners.

It seems rude, frankly, and also weird, to expect a level of candour and time from someone just trying to get on with their job and train. I can understand why riders hide their Strava activities, or travel further afield, as Tom Pidcock and Pinarello-Q36.5 have done in heading to Chile.

While the top male pro cyclists are better known, and therefore must receive more attention, female pro cyclists, training in their kit, must face a tiring barrage of amateur riders attempting to prove their speed. That's not even to speak of the low-level harassment all female cyclists often endure.

I understand why Vingegaard would try to escape from a rider following him, especially approaching a descent, where he would want space to take the corners in safety and not have to worry about a rider too close behind. It's weird, and as one of the most famous cyclists in the world, it must be tiring. Avoiding crashes, ironically, is probably one reason to try and ride alone, and keep everything within your control.

I don’t like someone I don’t know riding on my wheel, and I’m not a Tour de France winner trying to train alone. Think about your actions, be polite. Feel free to say hi to someone, to ask for a photo, if it's possible, but don't be annoying, and definitely don’t put another rider, pro or amateur in danger. That's all that's needed.

Anyway, I'm about to leave my house. Please respect my space.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Jonas Vingegaard crashed on a training ride on Monday after reportedly being tailed by a amateur cyclist.

The Dane came off his bike near Malaga in Spain after he attempted to drop the rider on a descent.

The incident was confirmed by his team, Visma-Lease a Bike, who urged restraint from the public towards their riders. The roads around Malaga in Andalusia are popular training roads for professional cyclists, with easy access to the Sierra Nevada mountains.

A cyclist from the region, Pedro García Fernández, wrote with a Strava activity that the Dane "was going down fast just to leave me behind and ended up on the ground".

Another Strava user, S-enduro, commented on the activity, saying that he saw Vingegaard with a bloodied face post-crash.

"Jonas Vingegaard crashed during training on Monday," a Visma-Lease a Bike spokesperson said. "Fortunately, he is okay and did not sustain any serious injuries. In general, as a team we would like to urge fans on bikes to always put safety first.

"For both your own and others’ wellbeing, please allow riders to train and give them as much space and peace as possible."

In his activity post on Strava, Fernández wrote: "You can be professional, but you can also be humble. Jonas fell while trying to leave me behind as we were going down the Queen’s Fountain [a well-known cycling route in the mountains outside Malaga]. When I stopped to ask how he was, he got angry with me for following him down. He was going down fast just to leave me behind and ended up on the ground.

"I don’t do this for a living; I’m an amateur like most people, so I don’t understand his anger as a professional about it."

S-enduro commented: "You both passed me coming down, and as I was almost at the last bend, I found Jonas by the guardrail, his face bleeding in two places. He must have hit it hard to drag his face along the ground. I stopped and asked him if he needed help, and he told me no, to go away, very angry.

"Now I understand. It’s clear he’s the professional and responsible for how he rides, but I also think that people like him, who are professionals and have so much at stake, should be given their space and respected.

"They risk their lives, their salaries, and the livelihoods of many people around them. It seems to me he felt a bit pressured and went down faster than he should have on a road he doesn’t know well."

Vingegaard has good reason to be wary of crashes; last year, he tumbled off his bike at Paris-Nice, and suffered concussion, which interrupted his season build-up. In 2024, he crashed at Itzulia Basque Country and broke his collarbone, several ribs, and punctured his lung.

The 29-year-old is scheduled to begin his 2026 season at the UAE Tour in just over a fortnight, before building up to a tilt at both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

"We changed the programme and it’s something I’m really motivated by,” he said earlier this month. "Personally, I really needed the change."

"By repeating what you do every year, you get into the same roll and do the same every year. It’s not like I’m not motivated, but it’s more like sometimes you also need something new to increase your motivation again. I feel myself that I have a new energy I haven’t had for a few years."

SRAM has officially launched 150mm and 155mm crank arms to the public, bringing some of the shortest cranks from the WorldTour into bike shops for the first time.

The release follows their use by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) last season, satisfying UCI rules that require professional riders to race only on commercially available equipment. It was not just an experiment, and the industry now seems happy to stand behind the shorter options.

In one sense, the launch simply underlines what we all know, that shorter cranks are no longer a novelty in the pro peloton. What once felt radical – 165mm cranks on a road bike – now feels comparatively long in this context, giving riders a much broader range to choose from or experiment with.

Many WorldTour riders have already migrated away from 175mm cranks. However, based on our own investigations in the hotel car parks of Lille last summer, 172.5mm cranks were still widely in use and common on many riders' bikes.

The news that these shorter lengths are now available from SRAM isn't just about shorter cranks; it's about how short they are, as they are well outside the observable norms now.

In the never-ending hunt for watts and marginal gains, it's no surprise to see 'chasing' teams like Visma-Lease a Bike willing to explore the lower limits of crank length in search of those elusive gains.

Vingegaard's use of them, and now SRAM's decision to sell them, shifts the debate. The question is no longer whether shorter cranks work in elite cycling – that has been answered – but rather where the practical limit lies.

Riders are not interchangeable, a truth few brands like to admit given the restrictions implicit in kit supplied in fixed sizes. Leg length, hip mobility, muscle recruitment, and cadence all influence how a crank length feels.

A compact climber with huge cadence and good control might find a short crank transformative. A taller rider with a naturally lower cadence may find the same setup awkward, even if the power numbers look good.

While pros can experiment with these changes more freely, consumers are navigating these changes with their wallets, and crank length also has an impact on other areas of bike fit.

Therefore, before you rush out and buy a set of tiny cranks, you might want to consider a bike fit first, where a professional fitter can observe your pedal stroke and point you toward a crank length that might work for you, or check out our guides to dig into the subject in a little more detail.

It’s a New Year, a new dawn, a new Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double bid – and Jonas Vingegaard is feeling good.

“We changed the programme and it’s something I’m really motivated by,” he says. “Personally, I really needed the change.”

“By repeating what you do every year, you get into the same roll and do the same every year. It’s not like I’m not motivated, but it’s more like sometimes you also need something new to increase your motivation again. I feel myself that I have a new energy I haven’t had for a few years.”

Playing with his wedding ring at times as he spoke, Vingegaard repeated that buzz phrase “new energy” three times in the first five minutes of his press conference at Visma-Lease a Bike’s media day on Tuesday in the hills north of Benidorm.

The runner-up in the last two editions of the Tour de France does not feel that he is sacrificing his chances in the sport’s blue riband race by chasing Giro glory first.

“The Tour is the big goal as well. I think you can also have both of them pretty equal as goals,” Vingegaard says. “I also want to win the Giro and I still believe that it’s possible for me to do both.” Tadej Pogačar showed as much in 2024, winning both the Giro and the Tour.

Finishing second in the 2023 Vuelta a España after Tour victory first made him realise that the Giro-Tour double was possible and he says he wanted to do it from the moment he won the Vuelta last year.

The data, run by the team, backed up his feeling: “The two times I’ve done the Vuelta after the Tour, I haven’t been worse, I’ve even been a bit better power-wise. We don’t believe it’s a disadvantage for me.”

UAE Team Emirates-XRG star João Almeida and former winner Jai Hindley (Red Bull-bora-hansgrohe) are anticipated rivals for the race which begins in Bulgaria. Vingegaard knows he is flirting with both cycling immortality and burnout.

“Two Grand Tours will be very demanding,” he said, another reason for a “light” calendar which sees the 29-year-old only racing the UAE Tour and Volta a Catalunya alongside the first two grand tours.

Yates retirement is ‘big loss’

Burnout was on Vingegaard’s mind in light of last week’s shock retirement announcement from defending Giro d’Italia champion Simon Yates a week ago.

“It’s a very big loss for us, it’s very unfortunate we lose him now,” Vingegaard says. “He was going to play a very important role in the Tour. But I also have a lot of respect for his decision. I think it doesn’t come from nothing: he lost his motivation and the sport is very hard to be in, very demanding.

“Sometimes I’ve also been close to burning out. It is tough with all the altitude camps and everything, I know his programme from last year so I understand that it was very hard for him. That he makes this decision, I have a lot of respect for him when he feels it’s enough and he’s going to stop.”

Asked by Cycling Weekly when he had come closest to burnout and who stopped him from that state, the reigning Vuelta a España champion said: “We push ourselves to the limit with all the altitude camps, with everything. You always need to be ready for a race and go there to win it. It’s not like in the past, you come there to get in shape.”

“Obviously, there’s more pressure on all the riders. For me, it’s just about listening to who I am as a person and what I need. And I’ve said it many times, but it’s something my wife really helps me with: to get me to feel what I need and how I feel about it.”

Vingegaard is aware that the World Championships road race in Montreal could be pushing the envelope, even though the hilly route suits and motivates him.

“I just hope that if I’m completely done after the Tour that people will actually accept it now, instead of saying that I had to go to the Worlds,” he said, an apparent reference to the criticism he received in September 2025 for opting out of last year’s event in Rwanda.

“The times I’ve said no to the Worlds are for a reason, not because I don’t want to … I showed in the Europeans last year when enough is enough,” alluding to his DNF there.

On the cusp of history

Vingegaard has never raced the Giro d’Italia in his career. If he achieves the grand tour holy trinity, he would follow Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and his “big idol” Alberto Contador into the sport’s annals.

“I really liked watching Contador, especially the way he raced: he was not afraid of attacking and cracking,” he reflects.

However, the Dane is not motivated by being the first in his generation to achieve the full house.

“I think we all know Tadej [Pogačar] will do it sooner or later, I guess,” he says. “It’s more about being able to win all three of them. It would be a dream for me, an incredible achievement,” he says. Only seven men in history have done it.

It is all change for the Visma-Lease a Bike squad too, not just their figurehead. They have made nine winter signings ahead of the 2026 season, including French national time-trial champion Bruno Armirail, Briton Owain Doull and Italian youngster Davide Piganzoli. Dylan van Baarle, Cian Uijtdebroeks,Tiesj Benoot and Olav Kooij are among the departures.

“I know there’s been a lot of writing in the media that we haven’t done well in the transfers, but I was also not the biggest talent [or] the first in line to get a WorldTour contract,” Vingegaard says.

“I think the signings they made are pretty good. It’s some of the [sport’s] big talents. I think Davide will be a very good climber and the same with Louis [Barré]. We will have some good climbing power.”

Jonas Vingegaard will ride the 2026 Giro d'Italia, it was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider will be aiming to complete the Grand Tour set, having won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023 and the Vuelta a España last year. He would be the first rider to do so since Chris Froome in 2018.

Vingegaard will target pink at the Giro in May before switching his attention to the Tour in July; there has only been rider to complete the double in the 21st century, Tadej Pogačar.

"I have been thinking about riding the Giro for a while now. It’s one of the biggest races on the calendar, and it’s also one I have never done before. I really want to experience it, and now feels like the perfect moment," Vingegaard said at the team's press day.

"Winning the Vuelta last fall only gives me more motivation to go all-in for victory in Italy as well. I would love to add the pink jersey to my collection."

"Apart from the fact that he has always wanted to do the Giro, we are convinced that racing the Giro will benefit his level in the Tour," Visma's Head of Racing, Grischa Niermann, added. "Of course, we are aiming to win the Giro, but the Tour remains our main objective."

The decision had long been rumoured, with Vingegaard previously saying that "if I could win only one more race, I'd choose the Giro".

The 29-year-old has been beaten comprehensively by Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the past two Tours, and therefore a different approach will be taken this season. The Giro's organisers have not been quiet about their desire to attract big names to their race this year, and the route appears set up for a GC rider targeting both their event and then the Tour.

Vingegaard will come up against João Almeida of UAE at the Italian Grand Tour, although there are question marks over the rest of the start list. However, there will be no Pogačar, and no Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), either. The Giro begins in Bulgaria on 8 July. Vingegaard will start his season at the UAE Tour next month, before heading to the Volta a Catalunya starting in March pre-Giro.

The chances of Jonas Vingegaard taking part in the Giro d'Italia seem to have increased, following reports that he now has an agreement in place to ride.

According to Spanish media outlet Marca, Vingegaard now has a deal in place with RCS, the organiser of the Italian Grand Tour. The Dane – a two-time Tour de France winner – has previously said that "if I could win only one more race, I'd choose the Giro".

"According to sources close to this publication, the current Vuelta a España champion has a deal in place to compete in the next edition of the Giro d'Italia," reads the article. "The final decision will be announced in the coming weeks."

The past few months have seen rumours of a Jonas Vingegaard participation at the bella corsa, following his comments at the Saitama Criterium intimating that, at this stage of his career, he would rather win the Giro than another Tour de France. This would see him add the only missing Grand Tour victory to his palmarès, something that Vingegaard has also expressed enthusiasm for.

"Win three Grand Tours or the Tour de France in 2026? I think I'd prefer to win the three Grand Tours. And after the Tour de France and the Vuelta, I only have the Giro left," he said at Saitama.

Vingegaard won his first Vuelta a España back in August, beating João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) into second and third place respectively over the course of what was three weeks hit by pro-Palestinian protestors. Indeed Vingegaard never got to stand on the official podium, with the final stage of the race cut short and no stage winner recorded.

It served as a consolation prize of sorts following a third runner-up place at the Tour de France behind his nemesis Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who looked tired but imperious at the French race.

It would appear that Vingegaard is also planning to ride the Tour de France this season, paving the way for a potential Giro-Tour double of his own. However, while Pogačar will not compete in the 2026 Giro, he will be at the Tour de France, presenting a major hurdle in any such plan for his Danish rival.

The Olympic motto is pretty straightforward: “Faster, Higher, Stronger”. Well, technically, it’s had “Together” added to the end of it, but it doesn’t really change the meaning of the phrase, inaugurated at the first modern event, in 1894. It sounds a bit like an early version of Radiohead’s Fitter Happier, but it was supposed to encapsulate the Olympic ideal.

Often, it feels like the route designers of the men’s Grand Tours are trying to live up to Pierre de Coubertin’s motto, and somehow make their race harder every year. There’s something almost masochistic about how routes are designed, announced and marketed, as if what fans want is for riders to break themselves over three weeks.

Next year’s Tour de France, for example, might build slowly, but has the brutal final week culminating in two Alpe d’Huez finishes; its over 54,000m of elevation is there as a badge of honour. We don’t know the route of the 2026 Vuelta a España yet, but this year’s race counted 12 stages out of 21 with over 3,000 metres of climbing, and nine summit finishes.

It would not be strange to expect, then, that the 2026 Giro d’Italia would follow this format. The Italian race is often the most predictable of the three Grand Tours, with its back-loaded trip around the Alps and Dolomites setting up a grandstand finish. The 2025 edition had four mountain stages in five days in the final week, all part of 53,250 metres of climbing.

It turns out that this is not the menu that RCS and Giro director Mauro Vegni has for everyone in May. To call the route easy would be laughable, obtuse, but it certainly has been designed to look easier. There is 8% less elevation gain, from 53,250 metres to 49,150, and while there are seven summit finishes, only two of them are ranked as five-out-of-five difficulty by the organisers. Stage 19 in the Dolomites is a sop to those who demand masochism, with 5,000m of elevation in 152km, and six classified climbs including the Passo Giau, but it’s surrounded by relatively kinder days. 2026 will be just the third edition in the last 10 with less than 50,000m of elevation.

This is obviously not how the Giro has been sold, or will be marketed. The elevation has been rounded up and trumpeted, and the soundbites are all about how exciting and emotional the race will be. However, a slightly easier course is no bad thing.

The truth is, the Giro knows that it is secondary to the Tour in terms of stage race objectives, and it has to play into that. To attract the biggest names, those that will likely be in France in July, they have to make a race that doesn’t break riders, that makes it more plausible for a tilt at both. That’s why it’s a route which doesn’t have a traditional final week of just going up mountains, and things are more spaced out. It’s not something the organisers have been quiet about, either, with Mauro Vegni telling Cyclingnews that he hoped Jonas Vingegaard would come.

There is the trio of difficult GC stages in the opening week, and a 40km-long time trial, but there are also potentially eight sprint stages. Sometimes, moderation is needed. This is not a route which Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) would balk at, and neither is it a turn-off for Remco Evenepoel (soon to be Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

What RCS and the Giro really needs, is a clash of the big names, not just dominance from a single rider, as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) so ably demonstrated in 2024. With a route acting as a lure, perhaps they’ll get their wish. That said, often the best racing is when a collection of similar-matched riders lock horns, as happened this season with Simon Yates vs Isaac del Toro vs Richard Carapaz. It’s not all about the biggest names.

It is refreshing to see a route which isn’t just about how much torture the riders can be put through – it is up to the riders themselves to create the torture through how they race the roads. There is variety here, from short, sharp mountain days to a stage, which at 246km, is 42km longer than the longest Tour stage in 2026. There’s a mix.

The Giro benefits from not having to attempt to Pogačar-proof its course, as the Tour has done – the Slovenian is unlikely to do both again in 2026 – but it still has to be clever, play the game. I’m looking forward to May already, and a Giro which is dynamic, not one which waits for final week fireworks. Let’s hope RCS get their dream of a start list.

Faster, higher, stronger isn’t always possible, but that doesn’t mean the race will be any less exciting.

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If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.