Why does Jonas Vingegaard have one painted nail at the Giro d'Italia?

As well as his signature red helmet, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) started stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia with a singular nail painted red, as part of a charity awareness campaign.

Vingegaard, along with some of his teammates including Davide Piganzoli, sported red nail varnish on his ring finger, in support of a campaign run by Børns Vilkår ('Children's Welfare'), a Danish charity working against child abuse.

The charity's 'Stop vold!' (Stop violence) campaign has seen Danish celebrities and other supporters paint one nail red as "a small act that marks something far too big".

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"It's a cause for children's conditions in Denmark," Vingegaard explained in a video posted to Visma-Lease a Bike's social channels. "Every sixth child, so one out of six, is getting abused either mentally or physically by their parents. So we want to fight this. Every child needs to have good conditions at home. It's a very important cause."

Research on Børns Vilkår's website states that "one in six children in 8th grade [in Denmark] say they have been subjected to physical or psychological violence by their parents within the past year".

Speaking further to TV cameras at the start, Vingegaard also encouraged others to take part, with the campaign raising money and awareness for the charity's helpline and political lobbying.

"Every child [facing abuse] is one child too much, so I want to support this good cause. So if anyone out there wants to support it as well it's one nail they have to paint red," he said.

Other Danish celebrities who have supported the campaign include TV personality chef Rosa Kildahl, actress Neel Rønholt and footballer Daniel Agger. Tennis player Holger Rune is also an official ambassador for the charity.

Vingegaard is a parent to two young children and his team has previously been involved with other children's charities.

Earlier this year, he faced some criticism in the Danish press for comments he made against a higher rate of tax for the richest in Denmark, suggesting it may give them less freedom to donate to charitable organisations.

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