Updated December 3, 2025 06:14AM
Organizers of the Giro d’Italia are just desperate to convince Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel to come do its race in 2026.
But even with the red – or maybe rosa –carpet treatment, we bet neither Vingegaard nor Evenepoel bothers.
This week, RCS Sport went begging to Vingegaard and Evenepoel by uncorking a defizzed route for the 2026 Giro d’Italia that’s light on climbing, light on total time trialing, and … dare we say it … light on character.
It’s a not-so-subtle ploy to take the sting out of the notoriously difficult Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double, and to tempt Jonas and Remco into trying to emulate a certain Signore Pogačar.
The Slovenian dared to start both grand tours in 2024, and being Pogi, he romped into history by becoming the first male since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win both.
But here’s the thing.
No matter what RCS hopes, and no matter how “easy” they make the course, it’s hard to see either Vingegaard or Evenepoel showing up in 2026.
Why?
Because “The Tour is the Tour.”
Giro d’Italia boss: ‘We’re counting on it’
OK, so calling the 2026 Giro d’Italia “easy” is unfair – there’s the towering Passo Giau, a double dip of the notoriously nasty Piancavallo, and a quad-crushing flat 40km time trial.
But zooming out, it’s a heck of a lot less severe than usual.
The 2026 Corsa Rosa has less total climbing than last year, only two “5-star” mountain sufferfests, and the fewest total time trial kilometers in years.
There’s not even the stupid-hard final week that’s characterised the race for decades.
Knowing that the Tour de France is a near-inevitability for the GC superstars of cycling, it’s a course that’s been built to limit fatigue ahead of the 5-week turnaround to the Tour’s grand départ.
With Pogačar almost certainly swerving the Italian tour in 2026, Giro boss Mauro Vegni wasn’t shy in admitting he’s dishing it up on a plate for Vingegaard and Evenepoel.
“It’s a demanding and balanced race,” Vegni told TuttoBici. “We hope that it’s well-regarded by the teams and various champions.
“We understand that they want to come, and we’re counting on it,” Vengi said Monday, referring to Vingegaard and Evenepoel.
“They would be two stars of the first magnitude, and I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
Vingegaard and Evenepoel are Giro-curious
And Vengi isn’t making a total shot in the dark.
Both the cycling superstars hinted they’d like to race the Giro d’Italia next year.
Vingegaard even told Marca he’d choose winning the Corsa Rosa and completing his “grand tour set” over a third Tour de France title.
But for one of the few riders capable of beating Pogačar, there’s always the inescapable allure of the Tour.
“I think the Tour de France is so big that if you have even a small opportunity, you want to go for it. The Tour is huge, and it’s difficult to win there,” Vingegaard said in the same interview with Marca.
Speaking recently to Het Laatste Nieuws, Evenepoel sketched out two mutually exclusive calendars for his mega-profile debut year with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Option One: The classics and then the Tour de France. Option Two: If Remco is feeling brave, the Giro and then the Tour.
Even in today’s rule-breaking era, very few GC-caliber riders dare start both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France with the hopes of winning both.
But Evenepoel and Vingegaard would be able to pull on history with any plans of a 2026 grand tour double. Pogačar showed it’s still possible.
But what Pogačar does can’t be taken as a template. Whatever Eddy Merckx says, Pogi is the modern GOAT.
If Vingegaard and Evenepoel want to win the Tour de France, they either need to wait for Pogačar to opt out, or to circle the grand départ in a bold red marker.
Full commitment, no risks, no Giro.
Vingegaard wants a grand tour set, Visma wants the Tour
There’s a strong case for Vingegaard to finally make his debut at the Giro d’Italia. He could usurp Pogačar this May by beating him to the grand tour set.
And the race has all Vingegaard needs for victory, even if Evenepoel shows up too.
The Dane could hold his own against Evenepoel in the 40km time trial on stage 10 and – based on recent form – drop the Bora-Bull like a stone on the sprawling high-altitude climbs in the final week.
With Pogačar almost definitively not coming, the 2026 Giro opens the door to Vingegaard entering the prestigious club of riders who have “completed” cycling’s grand tours.
But even an “easy” victory in Italy will still require significant pain, Italy’s freezing rain, and a knock-on effect to the Tour.
And Vingegaard isn’t the only stakeholder here. Team Visma-Lease a Bike is hell-bent on beating Pogačar at the Tour de France after two humbling defeats in a row.
Yes, Pogačar seems unstoppable right now, but Vingegaard turns 29 next week.
He’s not got time to wait around.
Sending Vingegaard to the Grande Partenza next May – grand tour slam or not – is a risk that’s not worth taking for Visma-Lease a Bike.
“The Bees” won the Giro d’Italia last year. Another pink jersey is a lower priority than “project yellow” right now.
What’s more, Visma’s defending champion Simon Yates told the media this week he’d love to go back to the Corsa Rosa with a no.1 pinned to his backside.
Visma-Lease a Bike should grant Yates his wish, and let him take newly signed Italian phenom Davide Piganzoli with him.
Evenepoel has one assignment: The Tour de France
Evenepoel got Giro-curious when he heard rumors of the 40km Tuscan TT, which has now been confirmed for the race’s second week.
But the super-slippery Belgian was very reasonably counting on there being more than one time trial, too.
If RCS Sport wanted to get Remco to the Giro, it dropped the ball by actually reducing the total time against the clock compared to recent editions.
Remember when there were 70km time trial kilometers in 2024?!
What might Evenepoel gain in a 40km time trial against the best GC racers? Maybe ninety seconds, two minutes at best?
That won’t stretch far when the Corsa Rosa reaches its crux with back-to-back days in the Dolomiti.
And more to the point, why the heck would Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe empty its wallet for the Belgian on the premise of winning the yellow jersey only to gamble it all in Italy?
Yes, we argued in a recent post that Evenepoel should race the Giro to grow his Red Bull “wings.” But that was founded on the premise that there would be more than 40km against the clock.
For Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, betting on the Giro d’Italia and fumbling the Tour would be a bittersweet “success.”
Cycling’s new super team should have Evenepoel focus on Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a bunch of hilly classics – races he’s more likely to win – and forget the Giro for now. Leave the 25-year-old fresh for what he’s been signed for – racing the Tour de France with full commitment.
Primoz Roglič or Florian Lipowitz can go make hay with Italian talent Giulio Pelizzari at the Giro d’Italia instead.
The inescapable gravity of the Tour de France
Pogačar is turning the Tour de France into a race for second place.
And in some ways, the Slovenian’s dominance means Vingegaard and Evenepoel are damned whatever they do.
Winning the Giro d’Italia and floundering at the Tour might be seen as a cop-out. The “what-ifs” would be pondered for months.
Or, they forget the Giro, focus on the Tour de France, and hope Pogačar screws the pooch.
They’re caught between a rock and a hard place. But the weight of the Tour de France might prevail.