Jonas Vingegaard is set to win the Giro d’Italia after showcasing his power in the mountains to win Saturday’s penultimate stage and set up the first victory in what he hopes will be a Grand Tour double.
The pre-race favourite, Vingegaard took control of the Giro last weekend and barring disaster on Sunday will also become just the eighth man to complete the triple crown of road cycling’s three-week showpieces.
A gentle ride around Rome is all that stands in the way of Vingegaard’s first Giro victory and him joining the likes of Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Vincenzo Nibali in winning all three Grand Tours.
Vingegaard increased his lead over closest rival Felix Gall, who tried and failed to stay with the Dane following his late attack on the climatic Piancavallo climb and will head to the Eternal City 5min 22sec behind in the general classification.
Former Giro champion Jai Hindley of Australia is third at 6min 25sec with Thymen Arensman and Derek Gee rounding out the top five ahead of Sunday’s closing run.
“I like to win, I want to win as many races as possible,” said Vingegaard.
“We decided to go for it again today; it was the last day in the mountains, so today everything would be decided. We went all in for the stage.”
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider is bidding for a Giro-Tour de France double this year, and the two-time Tour winner has had too much for a field which did not feature his big rival Tadej Pogacar.
Superstar Pogacar will be at this year’s Tour and the battle between the pair is expected to be fierce on the “Grande Boucle”, the sport’s most prestigious event.
– Vingegaard on top –
Vingegaard has shown why he is the biggest threat to Pogacar on the Grand Tours, winning five stages and coming out on top in the Giro even though he was sick during the opening week.
The 29-year-old was at the front of the peloton when it reached the first of two punishing 14.5-kilometre climbs to Piancavallo, trying to chase down a breakaway which was over four minutes up the road.
That gap was down to little more than two minutes at the start of the second ascent, and Vingegaard made his move just over 10km from the finish.
He easily pulled away first from the main group and then from the chasing Gall before surging past what was left of the break and on to victory.
“The boys did an amazing job again today. I had an amazing day also today,” added Vingegaard.
“To have won five stages here now and to have a solid lead going into tomorrow is special for me.”
Giulio Ciccone will top the Mountains classification at the end of the Giro, the Italian finishing the stage assured of the blue jersey ahead of Vingegaard.
It is the third Grand Tour Mountains win of Ciccone’s career after the 2019 Giro and claiming the polka-dot jersey at the Tour three years ago.
