Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) said arriving at his first Giro d'Italia is "a dream coming true" and that he feels well prepared for the three-week race that could make him only the eighth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours.
Speaking to Cycling Pro Net's YouTube channel on Wednesday, two days before the race starts in Bulgaria, Vingegaard said he had done "everything I can to be as good as possible" and described his build-up since the Volta a Catalunya as "quite a good preparation."
The Danish star has already won the Tour de France twice, in 2022 and 2023, and the Vuelta a España in 2025. Lifting the Trofeo Senza Fine in Rome on May 31st would place him amongst some of the greatest riders of all time. Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, and Chris Froome. A feat that, for the moment, hasn't been claimed by rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), with the Slovenian possibly riding La Vuelta later this year. One thing Vingegaard can't achieve is holding all three titles at once, that feat belongs to Merckx, Hinault and Froome.
Vingegaard said he had long wanted to ride the race. "I've always dreamed of doing the Giro. I remember watching it on television as a kid and it's a special race. Italy is a special country for me," he said. "But also to now have the opportunity to win all three Grand Tours."
His 2026 season has already included overall victories at Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya where he dominated in both races. Since then, he has been training at altitude.
Asked whether he is the sole favourite, Vingegaard pushed back. "I don't think I'm the only favourite. I think there's a lot of other strong guys here that also have a chance. I don't think that quote is correct," he said.
Late withdrawals have changed the field. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) all pulled out before the start, leaving the GC contenders as Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM), and Michael Storer (Tudor) among others. Vingegaard starts among the leading contenders.
The route covers 3,459km with 49,150m of altitude gain, seven summit finishes and a 42km individual time trial on stage 10 from Viareggio to Massa. You can read our full guide on the key times to watch the race's critical stages here.
Vingegaard acknowledged the difficulty without singling out any stage. "There's a lot of hard stages here, obviously already a little bit here in Bulgaria, but then throughout the Giro," he said. "You have to be focused every day."
The long, flat time trial could favour Vingegaard over some of his climbing rivals. Some GC riders who are more all-rounders, such as Gee-West, will hope to get a nice buffer on some rivals before the major GC days arrive, including mountain stages to Alleghe and Piancavallo.
Victor Campenaerts' role
Vingegaard also discussed Victor Campenaerts, who rode as a domestique during the 2025 Tour de France. "Victor is very important for me. I asked deliberately to have him here with me," Vingegaard said. "I almost chose his programme for him."
He described Campenaerts as someone who "thinks about basically everything, way deeper than any other rider in the team," and said that while he cannot always follow the Belgian's thought processes, "it's actually good to have a guy like Victor. He pushes the team to new limits."
The wider Visma-Lease a Bike Giro squad includes Sepp Kuss, Wilco Kelderman, Bart Lemmen, Davide Piganzoli, Tim Rex and Timo Kielich, giving Vingegaard experienced climbing support and solid flat power alongside Campenaerts' versatility.
The 2026 Giro d'Italia starts in Nessebar, Bulgaria on Friday May 8th.
Cover image credit: RCS/Gian Mattia D'Alberto / LaPresse
