The China Mail - Vingegaard targets first Giro while thirsting for third Tour title

The Dane was speaking in a video interview released by his Visma team to coincide with their season launch in La Nucia, Spain.

In 2025, Vingegaard failed to add to his two Tour de France wins, finishing second to Tadej Pogacar, but won the Vuelta a Espana for the first time.

"Now I've won the Tour de France and the Vuelta, I only need the Giro d'Italia to complete winning all three of them. That's a big goal," he said.

"I'm more motivated than ever, like I haven't been for years," Vingegaard added at the team press conference.

Only seven riders -- Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome -- have won all three Grand Tours.

The Giro runs from May 8-31 and Vingegaard said this year's route increased its appeal.

"Perhaps not as demanding as in recent years, which makes combining the Giro and the Tour a favourable option for us," the 29-year-old said.

Vingegaard said racing the Giro would break up the routine he had fallen into, but that he was encouraged by his success in riding the Vuelta after the Tour last year.

"Over the past five years, my build-up to the Tour has been largely the same. This time we have chosen something new," he said. "To mix it up a bit.

"We analysed my power output when I rode the Tour and Vuelta back-to-back last year and discovered that I wasn't performing worse, but rather better. I think I can be even better at the Tour de France by racing the Giro."

The Tour de France runs from July 4-26 and Vingegaard said the route started a little more gently than in the last two years, when Pogacar won.

"It seems like it's harder toward the end, so maybe more excitement in the last week," Vingegaard said.

"In order to say it was a really good season I need to win the Tour de France."

To support him, Visma have recruited several riders but have lost Simon Yates, last year's Giro winner, who surprised the team by retiring, aged 33, on January 7.

"He called us during the holidays to tell us he was stopping," Visma's sporting director Grischa Niermann said on Tuesday.

"It caught us off-guard because all the programmes were ready. He was supposed to be the leader at Paris-Nice and have an important role in the Tour de France. He's irreplaceable, and we would have preferred to know sooner, that's for sure. But we have to accept it."

R.Yeung--ThChM