"Being able to produce that power while..." - Giulio Pellizzari's coach compares Italian to Tadej Pogacar

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's budget has allowed the German to reach new heights in pro cycling and come close to the top of the sport. With the likes of Jai Hindley, Daniel Martínez and Aleksandr Vlasov previously in the team, the buyout of Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel from their contracts, and the evolution of youngster such as Florian Lipowitz and Giulio Pellizzari, the team's mountain block will be as strong as ever in 2026. Giulio Pellizzari in particular is one to watch...

"Pellizzari always trains 100 per cent. But he's a rider, he wants to compete, and that's his great passion. Winning races, being successful. And he's doing everything necessary to achieve it, whether it's nutrition, training, recovery, and so on," his coach Dan Lorang said in an interview with Bici.pro. "He's already very professional despite his young age".

The German team won the tight battle to sign the young Italian from the Bardiani team last winter, and it proved to be as successful as anyone could've hoped. Despite starting the Giro d'Italia on a domestique role, the freedom the he got in the final week due to Primoz Roglic's departure led to a climb into sixth overall in the final classification. Now at the Vuelta a España, the 21-year old backed that up with another impressive Grand Tour where he finished sixth again but also won a mountain stage.

“This was our approach, respecting his age and the timeframe of his preparation. If we also look at what he's done in the past, it's immediately clear that he's a rider capable of sustaining heavy loads, but we still had to be careful. The option of competing in the Vuelta was always in our minds," Lorang explains. "First and foremost, however, it was a matter of seeing how he would fare after the Giro. So before starting training, we did blood tests and all the parameters to see how he had recovered and whether it really made sense to continue with the plan".

With the evidence that the Italian could be well fit to race a second Grand Tour at the highest level, he was put on that role and thrived again, helping Jai Hindley to fourth place whilst himself only losing a Top5 and white jersey on the final mountain day. The fact that he has performed so consistently over the two three-week races is a special ability.

"We can look at it in two ways. If we look only at the pure numbers on total effort, the two Pellizzari riders were quite similar. However, the peak numbers were higher at the Vuelta, something we've also observed with other riders. He was certainly fresher at the Giro and felt it. He felt full of energy. So even though he pushed harder at the Vuelta and was capable of better performances, he never felt as fresh as he did in spring."

Equally, not only his consistency but his way of pedaling, rarely standing on the bike but instead having a consistent seated power output, compares him to Tadej Pogacar and gives him an extra advantage over most of his rivals. "Being able to produce that power while remaining seated is actually a strength. Because you can save a little more energy."

Next year there are already plans of a Giro d'Italia, although at the time being it is still early to know who he will team up with and what his full role will be. "After the Vuelta, on the one hand, it was a mix of providing some motivation, so a bit of intensity, and preparing for the trip. On the other hand, it's about working to be fresh on the starting line. As a team, we don't expect great results. Wearing the blue jersey is his dream, and we see it as a development for his future career."