Jonas Vingegaard's decision to make his long-awaited debut at the Giro d'Italia was not solely to complete the trio of Grand Tour victories, but a new approach and training strategy to his preparation for the Tour de France, where he will attempt to win a career third title in July.
The Dane has all but sealed his overall victory at the Giro d'Italia after securing a fifth stage victory atop Piancavallo on Saturday and confirmed to select members of the press, including Cyclingnews, that he believes this was the best possible preparation for his goals of winning a third yellow jersey.
"Yes, for sure. It depends on how you get out of the Giro. If you get out of the Giro completely on your knees and you need to take two weeks of rest to be able to train again, then it wouldn't be a good preparation. But I believe that I am not on my knees," Vingegaard said.
"I have a good feeling coming out of this Giro, as well, so I also believe that the whole training here, and I also feel like I improved a lot throughout the Giro itself, so I actually think that it's the best preparation for me for the Tour."
In an interview with Cyclingnews at the start of stage 19 in Feltre, Visma-Lease a Bike directeur sportif, Marc Reef, said he also believed the changes to Vingegaard's race program and training, regardless of whether he won this Giro d'Italia, were the right decision. Still, the question remains: Will it be enough to beat four-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar?
"Sometimes in the career of a rider, every now and then we need to change the approach, changes to the season are also really important to keep the motivation high," Reef told Cyclingnews.
"As we did what we did last year, we also saw that the outcome was not enough to beat Pogačar. So, in that way, we also needed to change our approach. We also saw in the past that in his second Grand Tour, he had a slightly higher level, and we also believe that will happen this year."
Vingegaard has won two Tours de France in 2022 and 2023, and the Vuelta a España in 2025, but until this year has opted not to compete in the Giro d'Italia because his primary focus has been the Tour de France in July.
"At that moment, the focus was only on the Tour. To have the preparation, at that moment, that we really believed in it, and that is what we have done for the last five years," Reef said.
Vingegaard lost the past two Tours de France to Pogačar but went on to win the Vuelta a España for the first time in his career last September.
Visma-Lease a Bike then announced in January that Vingegaard would make his debut at the Giro d'Italia in 2026, attempting the double alongside the Tour de France – motivated by the change of preparation ahead of the Tour but also adding the maglia rosa to his collection of overall titles.
"Especially after the victory of the Vuelta last year, and we saw that there was the chance there to try to go for the Giro [this year] to win that race, and that he would have won all three Grand Tours, so that also played a role," Reef said.
During this Giro d'Italia, Vingegaard claimed stage victories at the first four summit finishes at Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale, Pila – where he pulled on the maglia rosa – and at Carì, after which he said he was "better than ever."
He went on to win today on Piancavallo and will celebrate his overall victory on stage 21 on the streets of Rome on Sunday.
Reef clarified to Cyclingnews that Vingegaard is in the best form for the month of May, and that this is exactly where they expected his performance to be at this point in the year and in his preparations for the Tour de France. But he also confirmed that, based on Vingegaard's performance data, he still has room to improve before July.
"I think he is in the best form in this moment, and for how it can be [in May]," Reef said.
"At this moment, we are now in the third week of a Grand Tour, and there is some tightness in the legs, but there is time to recover after the Giro, and even to do a build-up at altitude.
"We hope to make that last step to perform at an even higher level there at the Tour."
Vingegaard is also healthy and has had time to build his form without obstacles, illness or injuries. In the last two years, he has suffered injuries from crashes at Itzulia Basque Country in 2024 and Paris-Nice in 2025.
But even with a smooth spring campaign, consistent training and preparation and the winning debut at the Giro d'Italia, Vingegaard hopes that it will be enough to beat Pogačar at this year's Tour de France.
"I hope so," Vingegaard said. "Time will tell. To be able to match Pogačar, you have to be at your best. Compared to other years, I've needed to take a step."
Reef is also hopeful that the new preparations this May will pay off with a victory at the Tour.
"It is something where we strongly believe in. But, of course, it is new for us, how to do this in May and towards the Tour. It's exciting, and we see that at this moment, the numbers that he is pushing are good," Reef said.
"We only know if it is good enough after he has raced the Tour. At this moment, we have a big belief that he is on the right track, on the right way, and exactly where we want him to be. With tweaks after the Giro, we really believe he's ready."
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