Piganzoli can win the white jersey: Vingegaard’s words

Raise your hand if you would have thought so at the start of Nessebar, Bulgaria, on Friday 8 May: Davide Piganzoli is in the running for the white jersey of best young rider in the Giro d’Italia, and he can win it. The 23-year-old from Valtellina from Visma was supposed to be a key man for Jonas Vingegaard on the climb and his performance has already gone beyond the wildest expectations, given that he is often the Dane’s last man and, once his job is done, he manages to stay with the captain’s rivals on the climb. The ranking is rewarding him, also because his great friend Giulio Pellizzari – conditioned by a less than perfect physical condition – has gone into crisis and now Piganzoli is eighth in the general, but above all second in the white jersey of the youth, 2’17” behind Afonso Eulalio. The third, the French Rondel, is 4’23” and does not seem to represent a great danger even if he is doing well.

gratitude

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The Portuguese has been very good so far, after winning the pink jersey in Potenza which he defended with honor until Saturday in Pila. However, in the third week it should decline (today it lost ground) and above all on Friday and Saturday the Giro is awaited by two very tough stages. Piganzoli, on the other hand, is continuing to maintain a very high pace and, what is anything but secondary, he received some harsh words from captain Jonas Vingegaard today: “He is doing an extraordinary job for me. I would like to try to reciprocate, trying to make him win a stage or win the white jersey”.

growth

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Piganzoli grew up in the current Polti of Basso and Contador and had already finished the Giro d’Italia twice in the top 15 before making the jump to the World Tour with the Dutch squadron that has been making its mark in the grand tours for years: his agent is the former pro Luca Mazzanti who had always bet, in unsuspecting times, on his talent and on a gradual growth that would lead him to great goals. On climbs Piganzoli is very strong, he isn’t stuck in the clock, in short we can speak of a complete rider who has always progressed one step at a time and without exaggerating. This Giro d’Italia could really be the turning point for “Piga”, and if he were also on the final podium in Rome, overlooking the Circus Maximus, Italy would have many reasons to smile.