Visma | Lease a Bike sees strong Jonas Vingegaard but mourns heavily damaged Wilco Kelderman

Today was an exciting day for Visma | Lease a Bike at the Giro d'Italia. The Dutch WorldTeam saw a strong Jonas Vingegaard break away uphill from his rivals, but Tim Rex and Wilco Kelderman were also involved in the massive crash just before the finale. Especially the latter Dutch rider crossed the finish line battered.

Starting with the good news about Kelderman: The Dutchman was able to complete the second stage of the Giro despite his injuries. The same applied to Rex, who fortunately seemed less battered after the stage.

Afterwards, team director Reef could not yet indicate Kelderman's condition. “There was nothing to do about the crash. The corner was slippery and the pace in the peloton was high. When riders in front of you go down, there’s no way back. At the moment, we don’t know how Wilco is,” he said on the team’s website.

A strong Vingegaard
After the crash and a brief neutralization, racing had to continue. Visma | Lease a Bike’s plan to harden the race on the final climb and possibly launch an attack with Vingegaard could therefore go ahead.

"It was already the plan to attack, and given how the race unfolded, it was definitely the safest approach in the finale. The smaller the group, the safer it would be for the rest of the stage," the Dane responded afterwards to Indeleiderstrui.

Vingegaard managed to break away from the rest of the peloton on the final climb but was joined after the summit by Lennert van Eetvelt and Giullio Pellizzari. That the trio could not contest the stage win is something the two-time Tour winner does not hold against anyone. "We were all playing the same game," he concluded.