Jonas Vingegaard is reportedly considering competing in the 2025 Giro d'Italia, perhaps even doing the Giro and Tour de France double like Tadej Pogachar did this season.
The Visma-Lease a Bike team quickly denied reports of the decision, but La Gazzetta dello Sport and Het Laatste Nieuws reported the news Tuesday morning.
According to Gazzetta, which is owned by RCS Sport, organizer of the Giro d'Italia, “Vingegaard wants to make his Giro debut and the team is seriously considering the idea.”
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, Vingegaard “has reportedly indicated internally his desire to ride the Giro.”
There was no reaction from RCS Sport.
Visma-Lease a Bike denied any plans for the 2025 season.
“I really don't know where that's coming from. I'm sure it's not coming from our team,” communications manager Sander Kreikers told the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
“We haven't even started evaluating this season yet. We don't know where it will come from. I am very surprised.”
Teams typically plan their season goals during the winter months at management and team meetings in October and November. However, Vingegaard may already have a plan or race plan for 2025.
It makes sense for Vingegaard to compete in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2025.
The Dane just finished the 2024 season after winning the Tour de Pollogne to spend time with his partner Trine and family before the birth of their second child.
Vingegaard raced for 44 days in 2024, but his season was interrupted when he suffered a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and a pneumothorax in a crash in Ituria Basque in early April.
He managed to make it to the Tour de France, but finished six minutes behind Pogachar and admitted to being physically and mentally exhausted.
Vingegaard will be away from racing for six months during the winter after ending his season early. While the Giro/Tour double comes with some risks, it will also help Vingegaard get back to his best for the 2025 Tour de France.
Any decision will depend on the severity of the 2025 Giro d'Italia and the 2025 Tour de France; RCS Sport will reduce the amount of climbing in the 2024 Giro d'Italia by 20% to help Pogachar and give Vingegaard the same Italian and French could do the same to tempt the race.
No one since Marco Pantani in 1998 has achieved a Giro/Tour double, but Pogachar has proven that with proper training and race scheduling, it is possible in modern cycling. Pogachar won six stages in the Giro and Tour and took the overall win.
RCS Sport also signed a contract with Pogačar and his UAE team Emirates, paying the Slovenian a hefty fee, reportedly over 500,000 euros, to compete in the Giro and other RCS Sport races.
A similar offer to Vingegaard and Vimalies a Bike might be enough for them to decide to target the Giro d'Italia before they challenge Pogachar again in the Tour de France.
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