Jonas Vingegaard has arrived in Bulgaria for the Giro d'Italia, with the clear goal of winning the maglia rosa in Rome and completing a rare trilogy of Grand Tour victories.
"I want to win the Giro and make history," the Visma-Lease a Bike team leader told La Gazzetta dello Sport's Ciro Scognamiglio in an exclusive interview.
"Accepting a new challenge is something I needed. I can't wait to start racing. The goal is to win in Rome.
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"For many years, my race programme was very similar, but I felt the need to change. The Giro is a big goal and I'm convinced that via these three weeks of racing, I can peak for the Tour too. However, for now, I'm focussed on the Giro."
Vingegaard admitted that he only knows a few words of Italian, but remembered he fell in love with the country when he attended his first training camp in Tuscany early in his career.
"I love everything about Italy, from the food to the culture. I've never been on holiday in Italy but I want to," he said, hoping the Italian tifosi would respect him in the expected GC battle with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe racer Giulio Pellizzari.
"I only know a few words in Italian for now. I'd like to be an expert in Italian wine, especially white wine. There's something special about Italy; it's got a special energy."
Only Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Felice Gimondi, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome, and Jacques Anquetil have won all three Grand Tours, with Vingegaard the favourite to win this year's Corsa Rosa and so complete cycling's triple crown before Tadej Pogačar.
"It's a goal for me," he said, refuting any rivalry with Pogačar. The two will again clash at the Tour de France in July.
"It means I'd make history. It's only a matter of time before he does it too. Tadej is perhaps the best rider there has ever been. I've beaten him in the past and I'm confident I can do it in the future."
Vingegaard was again second behind Pogačar at the 2025 Tour de France but won the Vuelta a España. A crash in training after a spat with a local cyclist delayed his 2026 debut, but he then won Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. In recent weeks, he has trained for the Giro at altitude and looked transformed, fit and ready to race when he travelled to Bulgaria on Tuesday.
"I've studied the Giro route a lot, also because I wasn't able to do any recon rides," he explained.
"In Bulgaria, it'll be important to watch out for any wind. There'll be a lot of tough days: Blockhaus, Corno alla Scale and then in Val d'Aosta and the Dolomite stage. Some stages could create big time gaps.
"The Giro is more unpredictable. You've got to be ready for anything every day because there can be surprises everywhere."
Vingegaard refuted the idea that he is the big favourite, naming several rivals.
"There are a lot: Adam Yates, Pellizzari, Bernal, O’Connor, Gall. I'll have to be the best version of myself to win," he said.
"The signs are good. My form was okay in March, but I'm working to get better for May and then July."
He insisted he has fully recovered from his terrible crash of 2024 but is concerned about safety.
Asked what he would do if he were UCI President for a day, he said, "I'd use less energy on… making rules because some aren't necessary.
"We need to focus on the rules that are in place, perfectly control the race routes and check the conditions of the roads and that they are clean. That doesn't always happen."
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