Davide Piganzoli: the rising star turned into Jonas Vingegaard’s guardian angel

His name is not unfamiliar to cycling fans, but in recent days the wider public has begun to discover the strength and talent of Davide Piganzoli. After a long apprenticeship in Professional teams, the rider from Morbegno (Sondrio) made the step up to the WorldTour this year with Team Visma | Lease a Bike, a squad that decided to place its trust in him at this edition of the Giro d’Italia, working alongside Jonas Vingegaard.

The road to Jonas’ third victory

Today, on the Aosta–Pila stage, the Italian rider quite literally paved the way for his captain on the final climb. After the work of the experienced Sepp Kuss, one of the strongest climbing domestiques in the peloton, Davide Piganzoli moved to the front and set a ferocious pace, allowing the Dane to launch himself towards his third personal victory of this edition.

Davide Piganzoli: climbing is second nature

Davide Piganzoli is only 23 years old. Born at the foot of the great Lombardy climbs, in Morbegno, he officially turned professional in 2023, the year Eolo-Kometa made the leap to the Professional category. Piganzoli remained with the team even after it adopted its current name, Polti–VisitMalta, showcasing his remarkable climbing talent: after all, not everyone can finish third at the Giro dell’Emilia, stepping onto the podium behind Tadej Pogačar and Tom Pidcock. That result came several months after he had already claimed the overall classification at the Tour of Antalya. Piganzoli was always there, consistently delivering — and the following year brought even more important achievements.

His second place overall at O Gran Camiño in 2025 firmly established Piganzoli as a stage race rider. The Italian also finished runner-up at La Route d’Occitanie, where he notably claimed a podium finish on the stage ending in the legendary French mountain resort of Luz-Ardiden, a summit finish following the ascent of the iconic Col du Tourmalet.

From Polti-VisitMalta to Visma-Lease a Bike

At the end of 2025, it became official: Davide Piganzoli joined Team Visma | Lease a Bike. His primary mission would be to support Jonas Vingegaard at the Giro d’Italia, with a rider of his climbing pedigree needed for the brutal Alpine ascents of the Corsa Rosa. Davide proved more than ready for the challenge, and today’s stage showed that he is not only an outstanding domestique, but also a rider with the potential to become a team leader in Grand Tours. At the moment, Piganzoli sits 10th in the general classification. Naturally, the team’s main objective will be to protect Vingegaard, but it cannot be ruled out that Piganzoli himself may aim to improve his current GC position. “Davide Piganzoli did an incredible job today. He set such a strong pace that it dropped the last remaining rivals and, by the time it was my turn to attack, there was almost nothing left for me to do except capitalise on the effort,” said his captain after the finish. A sincere compliment for a rider who is, in every sense, one of Italy’s brightest hopes for the future.