Vingegaard raises Pogacar’s bet, conquers the Giro and becomes winner of the three grand tours | Cycling | Sports

Twenty-one days later, the story is over. He arrives in Rome and the city celebrates, arms open and encouragement to heaven to receive the new champion of the Giro d’Italia. Dressed in pink since May 23, when he shook the tree in the Aosta Valley, the Dane smiles in the Eternal City and finally becomes the winner of the three great stage tours: the Tour de France (2022 and 2023), the Vuelta a España (2025) and the Giro d’Italia (2026). Only seven cyclists have achieved it before: Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome, the last to close the circle, in 2018, also in pink and also next to the Colosseum.

Eight years later, Vingegaard, with a shy face next to his wife and children, is happy to rewrite history. It does so without leaving any room for surprise. The Visma leader, who will turn thirty at the end of this year, crosses the last finish line of the Giro in the imposing Circus Maximus with five stage wins – more than in any of his previous grand tours – and a minute’s lead over his two immediate pursuers in the general classification, Felix Gall (5m22s) and Jai Hindley (6m25s), both exceptional companions on the final podium.

Neither one nor the other, nor any participant in this Giro, was able to dispute in three weeks the overwhelming superiority of the graceful Danish champion. With , where these days the majority of cyclists with an appointment for the next Tour de France are crowding under the sun, Vingegaard meets the heavy expectations in Italy and can, at last, breathe easy. It also celebrates by raising the stakes of the Slovenian ogre, who has already uncorked the champagne in Paris (2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025) and in Rome (2024), but not yet on the streets of Madrid. “It’s a matter of time before he also wins the big three,” assumes the leader of Visma, the only one capable of knocking out Pogacar in the high mountains. “Tadej is probably the best cyclist of all time.”

Vingegaard’s performance is not far behind, became addicted flashy y regular as few can remember in recent history. The Dane was 46th in his first major race, the 2020 Vuelta, compressed in the fall due to the pandemic, and since then he has not dropped from the first two places on the podium in five editions of the Tour, two of the Vuelta and one of the Giro: 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st and 1st.

He has not won the Italian round again since 1993, when Miguel Induráin won his second sweater rose, then in Milan. Since then, countless runners, an alternating trend between great and unexpected champions, have raised the coveted trophy Endless dressed in pink The route of the edition did not add to the uncertainty this time, monotonous, lacking the most emblematic heights of what is called the most brutal and merciless race on the calendar and without fireworks among the favorites – for the first time in history, the first three in the general standings, Vingegaard, Gall and Hindley, traced the order of arrival in four different stages. The Dane, the strongest from start to finish, is the final winner. The logic falls under its own weight.

The question remains as to how far the champion has pushed himself, from whom his directors expect an increase in performance during the Tour, the second grand tour on his agenda. The question does not show an iota of nerve on Vingegaard’s face, relaxed from the last ribbon cutting to raising his arms in the imperial forums of Rome. Finally flying ahead is the Italian Jonathan Milan, a marvelous sprinter.

The Italian anthem plays and thus says goodbye to Giro, another May. Everyone returns to their homes, the fences piled up make their way back to the organization’s trucks and the drums that have fallen in motion are now displayed with the utmost affection on the fans’ shelves. It seemed like it would never end and it’s already a thing of the past. Tomorrow we will talk about something else. About the women’s edition, underway since Saturday, about the Tour de France (can Seixas really alter the established order?) and what the future will bring. Such is life. This is how the incessant wheel of current cycling works.