Giro 2026: Vingegaard wants to keep mountain jersey and explains why Piganzoli dropped

Jonas Vingegaard is firmly leading both the general classification and the mountains classification with three stages remaining in the Giro d'Italia. The team leader of Visma | Lease a Bike also very much wants to bring the blue mountain jersey to Rome, he made clear after the eighteenth stage in an interview with Cycling Pro Net.

The eighteenth stage was relatively flat, but there was still a fourth-category climb in the finale, the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio (1.1 km at 12.1%). Just before the top of this wall, Vingegaard accelerated. When asked why afterwards, he replied: "I was at the front and I have the mountain jersey. So why wouldn’t I take those nine points there?"

Incidentally, Vingegaard scored not nine but three points, the maximum available on a fourth-category climb. Nevertheless, he extended his lead over second-placed Giulio Ciccone a little more. Vingegaard now has 214 points, Ciccone 133 points. Many points are still up for grabs in the next two mountain stages, but overcoming an 81-point gap will not be easy for Ciccone. Especially since Vingegaard will probably pick up a few more points as well.

Piganzoli
After his short attack on the last section of the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio, Vingegaard found himself in a group mainly consisting of GC contenders. Notably, Davide Piganzoli was not among them. How did the key domestique of Vingegaard miss that move? "I think due to the hectic nature leading up to the climb, it was simply very difficult to position yourself," the leader explained.

"I think he had to do it a bit alone and was a bit too far back, and yes, that’s what happens. Sometimes he wasn’t at the front on the climb, but he managed to come back and didn’t lose any time. He’s still in a good position and he’s ready for tomorrow and the day after."

Queen stage
Piganzoli came back together with a large peloton, after which we got a bunch sprint for the stage win. Vingegaard had not expected that scenario beforehand. "I didn’t expect the sprinters’ teams to take control. But they did a great job and they deserve the victory today."

About Friday’s stage, the queen stage of this Giro, Vingegaard said the route "has a lot of climbing meters." "So hopefully I have good legs and then we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I mean, it’s a beautiful stage and I would really like to win that one, but we also have to be careful with the team and with everything else. So we will discuss it and then make a plan for tomorrow."