Why ‘complicated' Giro d'Italia 2026 is 'not best preparation' for Jonas Vingegaard ahead of Tour de France
Published 07/05/2026 at 20:12 GMT+1
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Alberto Contador stressed that Jonas Vingegaard's participation in the 2026 Giro d’Italia could hinder his prospects of winning a third Tour de France, as he aims to complete a Grand Tour set.
'Done everything I can' - Vingegaard 'ready to fight for victory' at Giro
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Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard is preparing to take part at the Giro for the first time after winning the Tour twice in 2022 and 2023, alongside his victory at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana.
He has emerged as the key favourite for glory in Rome on May 31, with in-form Tadej Pogacar and many of the world's top riders electing to miss the Giro and prioritise their Tour preparations.
The Dane could become just the eighth rider to win all three Grand Tours, but Contador believes the smart call would have been to follow the precedent set by his rivals and skip the Giro.
”Will it be better for him to be in better shape at the Tour de France? I honestly don’t think so,” Contador told TNT Sports.
”We are living in a cycling era where training camps are everything. Everything is measured in such a detailed way. Whereas when you go to a race like the Giro d’Italia, you cannot measure the effort in as much detail.
”So I don’t think it is better. It is always taking a risk as you may not recover in time to get to the Tour in optimal shape.
”It is true that Tadej Pogacar did it [in 2024], and it wasn’t a problem. We will see what the situation will be like with Jonas. But I honestly don’t think it is the best preparation to tackle the Tour de France.”
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How Vingegaard should attack Giro - Voigt
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Contador was a two-time winner of the Giro, in 2008 and 2015, and explained what makes it such a challenging race.
”The Giro d’Italia is a race, for example, when it comes to weather, the parcours, and descents, that is the most complicated Grand Tour," Contador said. "But even then, I think Jonas has everything well studied and is the clear favourite.
”With the withdrawal of Joao Almeida, it's going to be a fairly unique Giro with Jonas Vingegaard, who is the clear favourite. It is hard to visualise a clear rival. Jonas never fails. When Jonas has not won, it was because Tadej Pogacar was stronger than him.
”But it has not been because he had a hunger crisis or a bad day, it has just been when Tadej is simply stronger than him.
”He is a rider that does not make mistakes. A rider that has everything studied to the last detail and I think it will be difficult to find a rival that will give him real trouble.”
Contador's sentiments were echoed by TNT Sports analyst Robbie McEwen, who would be "very, very surprised" if Vingegaard does not finish top of the podium.
"If he doesn't win it, I'll be very, very surprised," he explained.
"He's famously humble, he'll be the first one to say, we've still got to ride this race. He gets it, he understands it, he knows he's the big favourite.
"But he's not going to make the mistake of going away from his process, the things he normally does, because he knows that a mistake is always just around the corner and complacency is a big enemy. He and his team are very concentrated.
"I think he'll be the first one to say to his team: 'Ignore the noise and let's make sure we do our job properly. If everybody does their job properly, then we're going to get the right result and the result we deserve and have worked for.'"
Aside from the chat surrounding Vingegaard, there are high hopes for home favourite Giulio Pellizzari.
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The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider arrives with general classification aspirations after claiming his first overall victory at a professional stage race at the Tour of the Alps in April, and Contador is backing the Italian to have a very bright future in the sport.
”Giulio Pellizzari is a rider we got to know right here at the Giro d’Italia and I think he is a rider with tremendous potential and a great future,” he added.
”We are seeing it already. It’s true that in a lot of big races he has to play a support role to the leaders of the team, but he has a great opportunity at this Giro d’Italia to be seen.
”For me personally, he is a rider I like a lot, and I think he is going to keep improving and honestly, I see him as a clear candidate to finish on the podium of the Giro d’Italia.”
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