Jonas Vingegaard Just Became So Clearly the Favorite for the Giro It’s Painful

Jonas Vingegaard just vaulted several echelons forward in the Giro d’Italia rankings and he didn’t even turn a pedal.

The Dane’s path to victory on debut became even clearer Monday when top rival João Almeida and GC veteran Mikel Landa both pulled out of the corsa rosa.

News also emerged Monday that former Giro winner and last year’s third-place finisher Richard Carapaz may be out of the Italian tour.

Vingegaard is now so clearly the favorite for the maglia rosa that officials will already be penciling his name onto the Trofeo Senza Fine.

Red Bull’s budding Italian hope Giulio Pellizzari – a rider yet to reach a grand tour podium – leads a pack of distant threats.

For Vingegaard, a straightforward ride in Italy could be crucial to his audacious quest to “pull a Pogačar” in 2026 by doubling victories at the Giro and Tour de France.

A conservative ride through the Bulgarian partenza on May 8 and over the Apennines, Dolomites, and Alps will spare the 29-year-old a few bullets for his battle royale with Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and maybe Paul Seixas at Le Tour.

Almeida latest casualty for UAE

It’s a blow to the Giro d’Italia to lose both Almeida and Landa before racing even started.

Almeida is one of the most consistent GC racers of the modern era.

Still only 27, he also proved he’s got the potential to be a grand tour winner last summer when he finished second behind Vingegaard at the Vuelta a España.

Almeida revealed in a joint statement with UAE Emirates-XRG on Monday that the sickness that zapped his legs in March at the Volta a Catalunya still hasn’t cleared.

“I just won’t quite be ready in time which is a shame as it’s a race I love so much,” Almeida said Monday.

“After talking it through with the team, we decided it was best to take a rest period and switch focus to new goals later in the season,” he said.

The UAE Emirates superteam has been in tailspin this spring. While Pogačar has been harvesting huge monument victories, the rest of the squad is sick.

Isaac del Toro, Jan Christen, Jhonatan Narváez, Brandon McNulty, Tim Wellens, and Jay Vine have been stuck in the infirmary, or only recently made a comeback.

Adam Yates is likely to lead the Emirates crew at the Giro d’Italia in Almeida’s absence.

Landa out with fracture, Carapaz TBD

Soudal Quick-Step confirmed Landa won’t race the Giro after the team learned he suffered a “small fracture” in his pelvis earlier this month at Itzulia Basque Country.

Landa was clipped by a medical car in the finale of the race’s second stage and crashed heavily. He finished the stage but pulled out the next day.

“Due to the nature of the injury, it was not easily identifiable initially. Subsequent checks have now provided a clear diagnosis. The fracture has already begun to heal but will require a further period of recovery,” read a team note Monday.

And Carapaz?

There’s no official word from team EF Education-EasyPost, but Het Laatste Nieuws reported Monday that the Ecuadorian ace might not make it to the Bulgarian start.

Carapaz’s readiness to race may have been impacted by a surgery he received for a perineal condition at the start of this month.

Vingegaard heating up at altitude

Vingegaard could sizeably expand his legacy with his grand tour double.

He’d become only the eighth rider to sweep victories at all three grand tours if he takes victory in Rome in May – something his archrival Pogačar is yet to do.

Backing it up with a third maillot jaune in France would see Visma-Lease a Bike’s leader join Pogačar as the only two men this century to have won the Giro and Tour in one year.

Vingegaard started the season hot by winning both Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya at a canter.

He’s spent the recent weeks adding a few more percentage points – and committing a few fashion sins – up high on Tenerife.

“I’ve had some good training and I’m in better shape. I’m starting to get close to the level I want to be at for the Giro d’Italia,” Vingegaard told TV2 last week. “I go into it expecting that I can fight for the win.

“The goal is to win the Giro,” he said.

Vingegaard was more than confident of his chances for the Giro when he spoke to TV2.

He’ll be even more bullish after he hears Almeida is out.

Pressure’s on him and the Killer Bees not to screw it up.