"Everything went to shit after Blockhaus": Giulio Pellizzari switches to support role after Giro GC hopes collapse

Giulio Pellizzari’s high hopes for the general classification at the Giro d'Italia have officially unraveled. After a stomach illness in the opening week initially derailed his ambitions, the young Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe climber fell completely out of contention on stage 16 before being dropped early on stage 17. Despite that, the Italian remains relaxed and is shifting his focus toward helping teammate Jai Hindley's podium battle.

Pellizzari entered this Giro with high ambitions, having finished sixth overall in the 2025 Giro before capturing another sixth place and a spectacular stage win at the Vuelta a España later that season. However, things refused to click this time around. A stomach bug caught late in the first week saw him lose time, and any hopes of a second-week resurgence disappeared during stage 16.

"I simply had no legs, nothing special," Pellizzari argued in words before stage 17. "I don't know if I'm still recovering from the issues in the first week. I actually thought those problems were behind me, especially after the two days right before the second rest day. But I don't want to look for excuses, I just didn't have the legs."

Looking at the bigger picture, the 22-year-old is keeping a mature perspective on the setback. "After the Giro, we’ll have time to analyze everything that happened and figure out what we can do better for the coming years. And the Giro isn't over yet, right? I want to give something back to the team because they’ve done so much for me."

“We were very optimistic after stage 14 because he was able to keep his problems under control there. We were also optimistic that he would be back at full strength after the rest day, and we were a bit surprised that wasn’t the case today. Now we just have to live with the consequences,” Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe sports director Christian Pömer said in an interview with RAI before stage 17.

Pellizzari's desire to pay back his team was evident during stage 17's frantic start, where he was dropped just 60 kilometers into the day. Whether it was a tactical choice to save energy for the upcoming mountain stages or pure exhaustion remains to be seen, but the Italian seems to have accepted his new reality.

"I'm relaxed and happy, even though everything went to 'shit' after Blockhaus," he noted ahead of the stage. "That's in the past now. I'm just going to enjoy the final days of the Giro."

With Jonas Vingegaard comfortably commanding the maglia rosa, Pellizzari is excited to play a vital role in the chaotic battle brewing right behind the Dane. "Jai and I are friends, so now that I’ve fallen out of the GC, I really want to help him," Pellizzari said. "We don't need to look too much at Jonas, but behind him, there is a beautiful fight happening between Arensman, Gall, and Jai. Jai seems to be getting better and better, so we are going for the podium."