Vingegaard plays down missed bonus seconds after tense Giro stage 4

The Dane was in the reduced front group when the Red Bull kilometre offered a chance to gain time, but Jan Christen, Giulio Pellizzari and eventual new Maglia Rosa Giulio Ciccone took the bonuses instead. Vingegaard said the move had not been part of the original plan, but was worth trying once he found himself in position.

“If you are already up there, you might as well try,” Vingegaard told Feltet. “We tried to make a surprise move. We had actually said that we would not get involved, but we tried. It did not work out.”

Christen took six seconds, Pellizzari four and Ciccone two, but Vingegaard played down the significance of the missed opportunity, saying he did not expect the Giro to be decided by such a small margin.

The bigger takeaway for Visma was that Vingegaard came through the stage without trouble. Movistar’s pressure on the Cozzo Tunno climb reduced the peloton and left several riders under pressure, but Vingegaard said the harder racing may even have helped avoid danger in the technical finale.

“I don’t think it was that hectic,” he said. “They were just riding hard, and I thought that was fine. Especially with that finish, it was good not to have a full peloton and all the sprinters fighting for position. It probably would have gone wrong in one way or another. We came through it well.”

Visma started the day without Wilco Kelderman, who abandoned after struggling with the effects of his stage 2 crash, but the team still kept Vingegaard well positioned. Sports director Marc Reef said the main objective had been to avoid problems rather than chase the stage.

“Before the stage, we had clearly identified staying out of trouble as the main objective,” Reef said. “The wind at the start made things nervous, and the pace was high right from the beginning. That is why we made sure Jonas was well positioned near the front on the climb and the following descent.”

Reef admitted it was “unfortunate” that Vingegaard missed the bonus seconds, but said the team could be satisfied after reaching the finish safely in the front group.

Vingegaard also sounded encouraged by his legs on the first longer climb of this Giro.

“I think I was going well,” he said. “Of course the pace was high, but I still felt that both I and the others on the team had something extra in the tank.”