{"id":683443,"date":"2026-05-20T17:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/683443\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T17:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:47:11","slug":"i-dont-think-jonas-needed-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/683443\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI don\u2019t think Jonas needed this\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

That was still a useful GC day for Vingegaard, who gained 1:57 on the Portuguese race leader. But it was not the dominant ride many had expected, and after already criticising the Dane\u2019s Stage 9 tactics, Dumoulin has now turned his attention to a technical choice from the time trial.<\/p>\n

Dumoulin questions Vingegaard\u2019s huge chainringSpeaking on Kop over Kop<\/a>, Dumoulin focused on Vingegaard\u2019s decision to ride with a 68-tooth chainring. That was even larger than the 64 used by stage winner Ganna, and it caught the attention of the former world time trial champion.<\/p>\n

For Dumoulin, the issue was not simply the size of the chainring. It was whether the setup made sense on a day when Vingegaard did not appear to have his very best legs. \u201cIf you are not having a good day and you are not riding fast enough, then you end up riding either too light or too heavy,\u201d Dumoulin said. \u201cI don\u2019t think Jonas needed this.\u201d<\/p>\n

That line sharpened the discussion around Vingegaard\u2019s Stage 10 ride. The Dane did not collapse, and he remains in a strong Giro position, but the time trial was supposed to be the day he stamped authority on the race. Instead, he lost time to Thymen Arensman, Ben O\u2019Connor and Derek Gee-West, while Eulalio survived in pink.<\/p>\n

\"Jonas<\/p>\n

Jonas Vingegaard in action during the stage 10 individual time trial at the 2026 Giro d’Italia<\/p>\n

\u201cMore mechanical resistance than you want\u201d<\/p>\n

Dumoulin\u2019s explanation went deeper than a simple equipment critique. He argued that such a large gear can make it harder to find the ideal cadence and chainline, especially if the rider is not travelling fast enough to make the setup work perfectly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have to shift, you can easily skip two sprockets and quickly end up riding too light or too heavy,\u201d Dumoulin explained. \u201cIf you try to ride such a big gear, the chain sits on the left-hand side of the cassette. The consequence is that you have more mechanical resistance than you want. Ideally, you want the chain to run as straight as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another layer to the Vingegaard debateDumoulin\u2019s latest comments come after he had already criticised Vingegaard\u2019s racing on Stage 9<\/a>, when the Visma leader followed Felix Gall on the final climb before attacking late to win at Corno alle Scale.<\/p>\n

That earlier criticism centred on Vingegaard\u2019s refusal to contribute more while Gall was trying to distance other GC rivals. \u201cThen I think: you are the great champion of this Giro… At least take a turn,\u201d Dumoulin said. \u201cI did not find that very stylish. That one turn really would not have cost him any strength for the third week.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate translated version of the same criticism, Dumoulin also argued that Vingegaard risks making himself less popular through that kind of racing. \u201cI do think he makes himself less loved with this,\u201d Dumoulin said. \u201cThere is a lot of respect for guys like Van der Poel and Pogacar because they race with their hearts. In moments like this, I do think: Jonas, why?\u201d<\/p>\n

This time, the criticism was more technical than tactical, but it fed into the same wider question around Vingegaard\u2019s Giro. He has won two stages, gained time on most of his GC rivals and sits only 27 seconds off pink, yet his route towards the Maglia Rosa is being examined more closely than expected.<\/p>\n

Stage 10 added to that picture. Vingegaard was still better than Eulalio, Gall and Jai Hindley, but Arensman\u2019s second place for Netcompany INEOS changed the podium battle and showed that the Dane was not the strongest GC rider on the day.<\/p>\n

Pink still within reach<\/p>\n

For Vingegaard, the overall situation remains far from alarming. Eulalio\u2019s lead is now down to less than half a minute, and the Giro still has several mountain stages to come on terrain much better suited to the Visma leader.<\/p>\n

But the time trial was a missed opportunity to take control of the race earlier than expected. Dumoulin\u2019s latest comments add another question to that outcome, not only asking why Vingegaard did not gain more time, but whether his giant chainring gamble was the right choice in the first place.<\/p>\n

The Maglia Rosa remains within reach, but after Stage 10 it is clear that Vingegaard\u2019s path to it is being examined more closely than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" That was still a useful GC day for Vingegaard, who gained 1:57 on the Portuguese race leader.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,163619,6495,85,165035,177801],"class_list":["post-683443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-giro-ditalia","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-sports","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-tom-dumoulin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}