Alberto Contador, a two-time Tour de France champion, has voiced his opinion that Jonas Vingegaard is making an error by using this year’s Giro d’Italia as preparation for the Tour de France later in the season.
The debate has been ongoing for some time: could Vingegaard’s participation in the Giro compromise his performance at the Tour? The Danish rider remains confident, but Contador—who has won both the Giro and the Tour—disagrees with the approach.
“We’re in an era where training camps are everything. Every detail is measured and analyzed. That’s just not possible in the same way during the Giro, where it’s much harder to plan and manage the workload,” Contador told TNT. “That’s why I don’t think it’s best for him to race the Giro as a lead-in to the Tour. There’s always a risk he won’t recover in time to reach peak condition for the Tour.”
During this season’s Paris-Nice, Visma’s sports director Marc Reef told TV 2 Sport that the team fully believes Vingegaard can perform at his highest level in both races. “He’s prepared for it. It was his wish to tackle it this way, and I think it will work. He’s said several times that he tends to feel better and improve his numbers in the second Grand Tour, so that’s what we’re aiming for with the Tour after the Giro,” Reef explained.
Contador officially has two Tour de France wins and two Giro d’Italia victories. He attempted to combine both races in the same season on several occasions but never managed to hit his best form in the Tour those years.
Only eight riders in history have won both races in the same season, and Tadej Pogačar is the only one to do so in the 21st century. “Pogačar pulled it off in 2024, and it didn’t seem to be a problem for him. But we’ll see what happens with Vingegaard. Honestly, I don’t think it’s the best preparation for the Tour de France,” Contador said.
The Giro d’Italia begins today, with Vingegaard as the clear favorite to take the overall victory.