22/05/2024

Giulio Pellizzari reveals what brought him into Tadej Pogacar's tent after stage 16: "My brother wrote to me yesterday to find a way to get the Pogacar’s glasses"

The youngest rider of this Giro d'Italia Giulio Pellizzari was on the brink of a breakthrough triumph on the slopes of Monte Pasa as he was . But it wasn't to be for the VF Group-Bardiani-CSF-Faizane rider as Tadej Pogacar emerged from the peloton to shatter the 20-year-old Italian's dream.

So it was even more surprising when Pellizzari appeared in the tent where Pogacar had been awaiting the post-race ceremony to ask for Slovenian's pink glasses. 'Such an odd request,' Pogacar must have thought as he handed Pellizzari not only the metioned glasses, but also the pink jersey he's been wearing. To Pellizzari's amazement. But why did Pellizzari ask for Pogacar's glasses in the first place?

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He explained to Italian media afterwards: "The glasses? My brother wrote to me yesterday 'find a way to get the Pogacar’s' and so I entered the tent, asked him for them and he also gave me the pink jersey. I wish Tadej all the best, he is great, he is the best in history."

However there must have been different emotions running through Pellizzari's head when he saw the pink ghost appear behind him in the final kilometer. "When I saw him I thought 'bastard, again…' but that was okay," he said.

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As it turns out, this was not the first encounter between the two. Back in 2019, Pogacar and Pellizzari met after Strade Bianche (where Pogacar finished 30th) where the two took a photo together. After realizing this, Pogacar went on to almost apologize to Pellizzari for winning the stage.

"When I looked back and saw that he got second, I was thinking that Martínez was more close to me, that's why I was trying to make the difference between me and Martínez," Pogacar explained why he rode away from the Italian.

"But Pellizzari did an amazing job today, he was super super strong. Even I hope that he will win a stage this week. He's shown great talent, especially in a three-week stage race, I think he has huge talents," the Slovenian assessed Pellizzari's chances of fixing his personal score in the remaining stages.