{"id":609261,"date":"2026-05-28T22:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/609261\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T22:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:37:12","slug":"vingegaard-thinks-hes-better-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/609261\/","title":{"rendered":"Vingegaard Thinks He’s Better Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vingegaard unleashes wild climbing numbers in Giro stage 16 victory that will give Poga\u010dar pause for thought ahead of Tour de France brawl. <\/p>\n

Listen to this articleListen\"Vingegaard<\/p>\n

(Photo: Luca Bettini \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Updated May 28, 2026 09:09AM<\/p>\n

Jonas Vingegaard<\/a> took a while to get the engine running at this Giro d\u2019Italia<\/a>, but it\u2019s now red hot and delivering climbing performances that might give Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> a little extra pause for thought.<\/p>\n

According to online data expert Na1chaca<\/a>, Vingegaard won stage 16 of the Giro d\u2019Italia<\/a> with a 30-minute, 6.77w\/kg climbing attack.<\/p>\n

For the ~58kg featherweight, that\u2019s around 395 watts \u2026 for half an hour.<\/p>\n

Go try riding 395 watts for half a minute, we dare you.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard\u2019s wild ride Tuesday up the Swiss climb of Car\u00ec is a notable improvement from little more than one week ago.<\/p>\n

Na1chaca estimated<\/a> Vingegaard hit around 6.35w\/kg for 37 minutes on stage 7 when the Dane under-delivered with an unconvincing victory on Blockhaus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After winning all four of the race\u2019s summit finishes so far, Vingegaard has all-but won this Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

He rides into two transitional stages Wednesday and Thursday with a four-minute GC lead and a Visma-Lease a Bike team that looks impenetrable.<\/p>\n

And worse still for the likes of Felix Gall and Thymen Arensman, the 29-year-old seems to be getting better as the race goes on.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard may be \u2018better than ever\u2019 \u2013 better than Poga\u010dar?
\n\"VingegaardVingegaard is unbeaten on summit finishes at the Giro. (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Vingegaard told reporters after his stage win Tuesday that he\u2019s the best he\u2019s been since his devastating crash in April 2024 \u2013 if not better.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I\u2019m even better than ever,\u201d Vingegaard said from atop Car\u00ec. \u201cBut of course, cycling has evolved in that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Itzulia crash put me back more than I initially thought,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt took me more or less two years to get back to the same level as before. When I crashed, I was on a really good upward curve. My level was increasing a lot back then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy that I\u2019m now back to the same level. Or maybe I\u2019m even better than ever,\u201d Vingegaard said.<\/p>\n

It seems only disaster can deny Vingegaard victory at this Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

And that means thoughts flip forward to the Tour de France<\/a> and the inevitable comparisons to Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

Can this \u201cbest-ever\u201d version of Vingegaard threaten Poga\u010dar in the latest round of their French battle royale?<\/p>\n

In terms of pure numbers, right now, Vingegaard is approaching a similar level to the super-Slovenian.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar famously went GOAT-tier at the 2024 Tour de France when he demolished the Plateau de Beille with a 7.0w\/kg, 39-minute climbing attack.<\/p>\n

He surpassed those thresholds, albeit over shorter durations, last summer when he won his fourth yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard is closing in on those marks.<\/p>\n

But of course, the grand d\u00e9part is six weeks away.<\/p>\n

Not that Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike will see that as a problem.<\/p>\n

The Giro d\u2019Italia is a Tour de France training camp
\n\"GiroVingegaard has the Giro under control \u2013 next up, the Tour de France. (Photo: Luca Bettini \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Vingegaard\u2019s decision in winter to race the Giro d\u2019Italia as some kind of \u201cwarm-up\u201d for the Tour de France raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n

After two years of disappointment in France, was he \u201cquiet quitting\u201d on the maillot jaune?<\/p>\n

Far from it.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard showed last summer that he could replicate his numbers from the Tour two months later when he won the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. <\/a><\/p>\n

V-LAB premised Vingegaard\u2019s audacious attempt on the Giro-Tour double<\/a> on the entire notion that he gets better the more he races.<\/p>\n

If Vingegaard and his performance gurus do right in the six weeks between Rome and the Tour\u2019s \u201cbig start\u201d in Barcelona, we could have a race on our hands in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we\u2019re on a good track for the Tour,\u201d Vingegaard said Tuesday. \u201cI think I also evolved or took a step forward here during the Giro. That was the whole plan, then to try to take another step after the Giro.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe few times I\u2019ve done the Tour and then the Vuelta, my total power has been higher. My bodyweight has been a little bit higher as well \u2013 but that\u2019s something I can avoid this time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike will already be planning a pizza-and-Prosecco party for when Vingegaard rides victorious into Rome on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised if Vingegaard leaves his crusts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vingegaard unleashes wild climbing numbers in Giro stage 16 victory that will give Poga\u010dar pause for thought ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[138632,4985,45284,101,66373,64887,45287,60972,45288,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-609261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-audio-true","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-road","tag-sports","tag-tag-giro-ditalia","tag-tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tag-tour-de-france","tag-type-article","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609261","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=609261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}