"A new Giro starts on Saturday" - Pellizzari sends rivals fresh warning after as he recovers from viral infection

For a few moments on the Blockhaus, it looked like Giulio Pellizzari would go toe-to-tow with Jonas Vingegaard for this year's Giro d'Italia. The young Italian followed the overwhelming race favourite during his initial attacks on the mammoth stage 7 finish as fans wondered if they were in for a thrilling GC battle.

But it seemed the Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe man rode too close to the sun, cracking in the Dane's wheel and dropping time after his brave attempt at matching the two-time Tour de France winner. Fast forward to stage 9 and Pellizzari lost over a minute on a considerably less difficult climb to the finish.

The 22-year-old arrived at the corsa rosa with grand ambitions. Many backed him to pose a considerable threat to Visma | Lease a Bike's plans to dominate the race. That confidence is well-founded given his domination of Tour of the Alps as well as high-calibre support in Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov. But following Sunday's finish, all didn't seem right.

Confirmation soon followed that Pellizzari had been hit by a viral infection, which has also impacted several in the peloton after a turbulent first week. Hindley and others in his team too were affected. But the young climber put in a solid time trial to ship 18 seconds to Vingegaard - who also has admitted to suffering illness problems.

Ahead of stage 13, and more importantly Saturday's imposing high mountain stage, Pellizzari seems optimistic that he can put his illness issues behind him and launch a new Giro bid. Hitting the reset button, he trails Vingegaard - who is likely to be the GC high-water mark despite Afonso Eulálio holding the pink jersey - by 3 minutes and 9 seconds.

"Wednesday was a tough day. Let's hope we can recover a little more today and tomorrow. Then a new Giro starts on Saturday," he told In de Leiderstrui on Thursday, sending a warning to podium contenders Vingegaard, Felix Gall and others.

While the considerable gap to Vingegaard is a tall order, Pellizzari is bullish of his chances of taking home the white jersey for best young rider.

When asked about the jersey, he told a reporter: "The white is definitely a target — I'm second in the young rider classification. But let's not forget that it's still Afonso Eulálio who holds it. I think it's possible; we'll do our best for it."

Pellizzari might be looking ahead for a new Giro d'Italia dawn, but he certainly won't be looking over his shoulder after a gruelling few days of damage limitation during illness. He hopes to have a smile behind the grimace on Saturday's mountain test and beyond.

He added: "The last three days are not something I would want to relive. But let's talk about what's still to come and enjoy it."