Jonas Vingegaard at the 2026 Giro d’Italia presentation in Burgas, Bulgaria, on Wednesday. He is making his debut in the race this year.
Photograph: Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse/Shutterstock
The double Tour de France winner embarks on his first Giro d’Italia this Friday, with the race starting in Bulgaria, as he seeks to complete a rare Grand Tour grand slam. Vingegaard, who triumphed in the 2022 and 2023 Tours de France, has been overshadowed by the dominance of Tadej Pogacar—who has won nine races in just 11 days of racing this season—but remains the overwhelming favorite to claim victory in Rome on 31 May.
Pogacar’s absence is a key factor, as the world’s top riders have largely bypassed the Giro to focus on the all-consuming Tour de France. If Vingegaard wins his first Giro, he will become only the eighth rider in history to conquer all three Grand Tours. However, the lack of competition from Pogacar, who also skipped last year’s Vuelta, and others like Remco Evenepoel and teenage prodigy Paul Seixas—who has prioritized his Tour de France debut in July—could cast a shadow over the achievement.
Jonas Vingegaard celebrates after winning stage two of the 2025 Vuelta.
Photograph: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
Other notable absentees include Tom Pidcock, who finished third to Vingegaard at the 2025 Vuelta a España, rising German star Florian Lipowitz, and Pogacar’s teammate Isaac del Toro. For Vingegaard, once viewed as Pogacar’s closest rival, the Giro offers a chance to reassert his status. At 29, he now faces the threat of being overtaken by Seixas, a decade younger, who has already shown the ability to match Pogacar’s blistering pace.
There are encouraging signs that Vingegaard, whose career was derailed by a life-threatening crash in 2024, is back to his best. After winning the troubled 2025 Vuelta—which was disrupted by pro-Palestine protests—he also claimed victories at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya this spring. Given the depleted field, his Visma Lease-a-Bike team might wonder if not now, then when, but the Giro is notorious for its capricious nature, freak accidents, and extreme weather.
This marks the first Giro Grande Partenza held in Bulgaria and the 15th foreign start in 109 editions of the corsa rosa. However, the grand plan has been marred by political unrest in the host nation and disputes over travel costs with leading teams. After three stages in Bulgaria, the peloton will head to Italy, traveling north through Calabria and Campania before the first major mountain finish at Blockhaus on stage seven.
The 2026 Giro features nearly 49,000 meters of climbing and five summit finishes, which should suit Vingegaard’s strengths. There is one individual time trial midway through the race, but it is flat and, despite exceeding 40 kilometers, should pose no major threat to the Dane. If his recent form holds, Vingegaard appears poised for success.