{"id":415283,"date":"2026-01-17T12:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/415283\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T12:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:21:09","slug":"ive-worn-the-pink-jersey-at-the-giro-jonas-hasnt-yet-but-vismas-new-signing-wont-be-part-of-vingegaards-support-squad-until-th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/415283\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019ve worn the pink jersey at the Giro, Jonas hasn\u2019t yet\u201d \u2013 But Visma\u2019s new signing won\u2019t be part of Vingegaard\u2019s support squad until the Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nSo while Vingegaard chases the maglia rosa for the first time<\/a>, one of Visma\u2019s most experienced new signings will be watching from the outside.A new team at 31Armirail joins Visma at 31 without an agent, having handled the move himself. He also joins a very different environment. \u201cThe language barrier is a bit complicated for now,\u201d he told DirectVelo<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to explain yourself, to be understood and to understand. But little by little, it will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has already started English lessons and admits it is not simple. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to learn a language at 31. But it\u2019s part of my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the bike, he has noticed changes too. \u201cThe training method is maybe a bit different. For now, I do fewer hours, but it\u2019s a bit harder,\u201d he explained, adding that the team trains with more control and less obsession about who has done the most hours. \u201cHere, they know what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bruno<\/p>\n

Armirail has nine Grand Tour appearances under his belt over the course of his career<\/p>\n

His season points to July, not May<\/p>\n

While Vingegaard\u2019s season is built around a Giro-Tour double, Armirail\u2019s calendar tells a different story.<\/p>\n

His programme includes Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Itzulia Basque Country in spring, then altitude camps, the Dauphine, the French time trial championships and finally the Tour de France<\/a>. In other words, his season is shaped around July.<\/p>\n

That means he will not be part of Visma\u2019s carefully built Giro squad, which will surround Vingegaard with mountain depth and stage control. Armirail will cross paths with Vingegaard at Catalunya, but not inside the Italian Grand Tour.<\/p>\n

So his pink jersey joke carries weight. He knows what it means to lead a Grand Tour, having worn maglia rosa in the past. He just will not be there when Vingegaard tries to do the same.<\/p>\n

A rider who values being useful<\/p>\n

Armirail has always been clear about what motivates him. \u201cI prefer to have a very long career and win very few races, but be an indispensable rider that everyone wants as a teammate,\u201d he said. \u201cRather than ride for myself, win two or three races, not be appreciated and not last long.\u201d<\/p>\n

That attitude explains why his programme is built around service roles rather than headline leadership. He is also realistic about what that means at Visma. \u201cWhen a Visma rider goes, a UAE rider goes in the wheel,\u201d he said, describing how tightly marked the team is. He expects fewer personal freedoms than in the past, but is comfortable with that. \u201cI want to help my leaders as much as possible during the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has already been told that team time trials will be one of his key responsibilities, and that he will be an important part of the engine room in races like the Tour.<\/p>\n

Meeting Vingegaard later, not sooner<\/p>\n

Armirail speaks about Vingegaard without awe. \u201cFor me, he\u2019s a rider like any other, even if of course he has won several Grand Tours,\u201d he said, adding that it will feel different meeting him in a race rather than at training camp.<\/p>\n

That meeting will come in later. By then, Vingegaard will arrive at the Tour with Giro legs in his body, either strengthened or scarred by Italy. Armirail\u2019s job will be to help manage whatever that has produced.<\/p>\n

So while Armirail can smile about having worn pink before Vingegaard, his real work will begin when yellow is on the line.<\/p>\n

He will not be part of the Giro dream. But he may be crucial to what comes after it.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So while Vingegaard chases the maglia rosa for the first time, one of Visma\u2019s most experienced new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[172262,49,48,635,43199,5900,82,130976,636],"class_list":["post-415283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-bruno-armirail","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-giro-ditalia","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-sports","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-tour-de-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}