"It was a good day for us": Vingegaard finished more than 6 minutes behind the pink jersey, but the Visma team is calm

The Giro d'Italia 2026 has already experienced five completely chaotic stages, but within Visma Lease a Bike, there seems to be no concern despite Jonas Vingegaard being 6:22 behind the new leader, Afonso Eulálio, and outside the Top 10 of the general classification.

Visma remains calm despite Vingegaard losing more than 6 minutes in the Giro

After the grueling fifth stage towards Potenza, marked by constant rain, cold, crashes, and a breakaway that shook up the general classification, Visma's sports director, Marc Reef, appeared very calm when Cyclingnews directly asked him if that difference was starting to be concerning for the Dutch team.

The response was as brief as it was emphatic. “No.”

Visma considers surviving to be a victory

While other teams tried to control differences or fight for the stage, Visma focused the entire day on protecting Vingegaard in extreme conditions. The rain and cold became the main threat for the favorites, and within the Danish team, they believe that getting through the day without major incidents was already a success.

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“We tried to give him all the clothing he needed. We were often alongside him with the car and, honestly, he came out quite well from a very complicated day,” explained Reef.

Managing the cold was an obsession throughout the stage. The team had even prepared open jackets in advance to facilitate quick changes on the bike in the middle of the rain.

According to Reef, Vingegaard never really got cold: “He only had to change his jacket once. He didn’t get cold; he had good clothing, and overall, I think it was a good day for us.”

Visma's discourse highlighted that the team's real concern is not the more than six minutes lost to the pink jersey, but the possible physical consequences of such an extreme day.

Reef acknowledged that this type of stage often leads to problems several days later and that there is already fear within the peloton that sick riders may start to appear: “We will have to see what the consequences of a day like this are.”

The Dutch sports director also recalled that grand tours often start to break apart precisely after days like this: “We have seen many times in the past that after stages like this, sick riders start to appear in the peloton. A day like this does not help at all.”

That’s why, right now, Visma's priority is to keep Vingegaard healthy and protected before the real mountains arrive. Something that will happen this Friday with the Blockhaus.