However, it was revealed after Stage 12 on Thursday that Vingegaard has been struggling with illness, a possible explanation for his inability to dominate proceedings thus far at the opening Grand Tour of the season. <\/p>\n
Ahead of Stage 13, Vingegaard insisted he is \u201dfeeling 100% on the bike\u201d after making a recovery, leading The Breakaway team to weigh up what it all means before the peloton heads to the two-time Tour de France winner\u2019s favoured territory of the mountains on Saturday.<\/p>\n
With three Category 1 climbs coming up on Stage 14 on Saturday, including a summit finish in Pila, Stephens and Adam Blythe debated whether Vingegaard\u2019s GC rivals have let an opportunity slip, or could \u201dsmell blood\u201d going into the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt\u2019s a chance missed to take advantage of [Vingegaard\u2019s] sickness,\u201d said Blythe.<\/p>\n
\u201dHe\u2019s not been his usual self so far. But if that\u2019s him sick, he\u2019s had the easiest week of not having to go too deep.<\/p>\n
\u201dI think what\u2019s coming up, even [on Saturday], he might not go all in just to make sure he\u2019s properly over the illness and just wait for that last week.<\/p>\n
![\"picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-b30da8c6-82f8-4153-bc3b-c1d725148cfe-85-2560-1440.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Highlights: Segaert times attack to perfection to take stunning solo Stage 12 win<\/p>\n
Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n
\u201dThe team have announced that he has been sick, so maybe they think he\u2019s back to normal form and if he goes easier tomorrow, it\u2019s all mind games as well.<\/p>\n
\u201dThey might think \u2018we can definitely beat him\u2019 if he can only take this much time, or he\u2019s not gone on the attack. For me, there is a lot to come from him, but he will wait for that last week to really open up. <\/p>\n
\u201d[On Saturday], I think he will follow. We will see, he\u2019s definitely not been on full flight yet though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephens wasn\u2019t surprised to see Visma-Lease a Bike keep quiet while Vingegaard was struggling. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He added: \u201dWith stuff like that, they will play their cards close to their chest. We heard [Visma-Lease a Bike sports director] Marc Reef talking about how important it is to protect riders, but also in terms of information sharing. <\/p>\n
\u201dThey will be advised not to talk about anything to do with riders\u2019 infections unless it becomes obvious, and they have to leave the race.<\/p>\n
\u201dOtherwise, if other teams smell blood in the water and there is an opportunity, they will seize it, because that is the very nature of the sport and Grand Tour riding.<\/p>\n
\u201dBut they did keep it close. We saw a little bit of residual evidence of that, although it wasn\u2019t on his favourite parcours, in the TT. <\/p>\n
\u201dBut now he\u2019s looking refreshed, he\u2019s looking relaxed, a relatively easy day for him today (Friday) and tomorrow it\u2019s a different matter.<\/p>\n
\u201dIf there is something wrong with Jonas, we\u2019ll find out tomorrow (Saturday). Because if Visma don\u2019t take it up tomorrow, others will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vingegaard: On the bike I feel 100%<\/p>\n
Speaking to TNT Sports and Eurosport ahead of Stage 13 on Friday, Vingegaard insisted he is back to full fitness.<\/p>\n
\u201dWe weren\u2019t trying to hide anything. It started before the rest day; I was beginning to feel better and already after the rest day I felt better,\u201d Vingegaard said.<\/p>\n
\u201dIf they think they can use it for something, they can try, but I\u2019m up to normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dOf course, I still feel it a little bit, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something that affects me on the bike. On the bike I feel 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reef told TNT Sports that a cough, runny nose and stomach problems were among the symptoms being experienced by several riders in the peloton at the Giro.<\/p>\n
He also underlined how hard it is to protect riders\u2019 health with so many people close together in the bunch.<\/p>\n
![\"picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-0fdf1363-ef9b-4e19-9b18-49645e978fad-85-2560-1440.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Vingegaard ‘ready for the weekend’ after illness, says Visma boss – ‘Everything is done’<\/p>\n
Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n
\u201dI think illness is a too big thing, but of course [Vingegaard] mentioned himself a small cough. I think with the rest of the bunch it was going around, not only a small cough or runny nose but also some guys with stomach issues,\u201d Reef said.<\/p>\n
\u201dI think it\u2019s normal after what we have been going through. I think at this moment everything is done and we are ready for this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201dYou hope everybody stays healthy throughout these three weeks but it\u2019s not only this Grand Tour but also the last Grand Tour, there are always one or two guys who get something and you try to manage it as best you can with hygiene, with measures, and you hope it doesn\u2019t go further.<\/p>\n
\u201dBut there are 180 guys in the bunch, they are sneezing, everything goes around over there. So you also try within the team to limit it as much as possible, but the risk is in the bunch as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here<\/a>\u00a0to enjoy more content like this.Watch every stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vingegaard insists he is ‘feeling 100 per cent on bike’ after illness – ‘Back to normal’ Video credit:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,190521,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-599246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-giro-ditalia-2026","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}