Pellizzari reflects on Blockhaus showdown with Vingegaard: 'I had to try'

The youthful exuberance of Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) saw him fly too close to the sun when pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) launched his acceleration with 5.5km remaining on the slopes of Blockhaus. Pellizzari was able to initially match the Dane before having to relent around a kilometre later. 

Despite pushing deep into the red, the 22-year-old Italian refused to fade entirely, finishing 4th on the stage, just behind teammate Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), 1:05 from the stage winner Vingegaard. 

In the immediate aftermath, after the stage, Pellizzari admitted that he had felt good during the climb and overdid it, stating “I’m a bit sorry that I threw everything away by trying to follow him [Vingegaard]."

Speaking at the start of stage 8 in Chieti, Pellizzari offered more perspective, reiterated the fact that he was simply caught up in the moment during a strenuous effort, but it’s not something he regrets, testing himself against the best. 

“Yeah, I think everybody saw that I tried too much, but I mean, when you’re there, it’s not easy when you are at 180 heart rate, so it’s not easy to think, but I had to try,” Pellizzari told reporters. 

With the first summit finish in the books, the GC picture is starting to become clearer. Saturday’s 156km run-in to Fermo could be another stage that draws the GC contenders out for action with plenty of short, steep climbs on the menu. 

Whether this proves to be the case, stage 9 on Sunday features the race’s second summit finish to Corne alle Scale, which will surely test the mettle of the favourites. 

Therefore, Pellizzari knows that the standings could change significantly still before the second rest day.  

“It’s hard, yesterday was super long, today is super hard, tomorrow is a summit finish, so we have to manage well today. Tomorrow will be really hard,” said Pellizzari.

In the overall standings, Hindley sits 4th overall at 4:25 from Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), while Pellizzari is a few seconds further back in 5th at 4:28. Both riders are just over a minute from De facto leader Vingegaard, with only Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) in between, leaving Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in a better position than most teams. 

When asked whether he and Hindley are content to fight for the podium or whether they harbour greater ambitions, Pellizzari underscored the fact that there is still a long way to go in this year’s Giro and that there are plenty of opportunities to try to make a difference.

“Of course, we are there, we showed that we are not so far, but it’s still long. The Giro will finish in Rome at the finish line, so until then, we have to try to do something,” said Pellizzari.