"Improve on my sixth-place finish in 2025" - New Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader takes on ambitious Giro d'Italia plan

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe have signed Remco Evenepoel, and have added him into the roster of Grand Tour specialists that include Florian Lipowitz and Primoz Roglic. With so much firepower, that also includes former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley, it would be easy to forget the team has another three-week specialist in development. But in 2026, Giulio Pellizzari wants to prove the German team right on having signed him.

Pellizzari is one of the biggest wildcards in current cycling, having just turned 22 years old, and being a product of the Italian Bardiani team where in 2024 he showed tremendous talent. His climbing performances didn't go unnoticed, but it was Red Bull - BORA who won the race to sign the climbing wonder. In 2025 they very much reaped the rewards from it. In the spring he was Primoz Roglic's right-hand man at the Volta a Catalunya and stood by the Slovenian all the way at the Giro d'Italia until Roglic's GC run completely collapsed due to injury.

But on the very first attempt, on stage 16, he was the very best climber on the day, faster than the likes of Richard Carapaz, Isaac del Toro and GC winner Simon Yates on the climb to San Valentino. His final week in the race, where he was finally given freedom to pursue his goals, saw him climb from 18th to 6th in the overall classification.

At the Vuelta a España he repeated this feat, finishing sixth and again having a second place in the youth classification. However this time around, he won a summit finish on the Alto de El Morredero, and perhaps just as importantly, he performed consistently over a second Grand Tour in the same season at the age of only 21. It is very uncommon for his peers at such a point in their careers to achieve the same.

Consistency has been achieved, and next season the German team is acting on a working plan. Pellizzari will once again team up with Jai Hindley in the lead of a Grand Tour, following the Vuelta up with a Giro return. And he wants to finish better than a sixth place - a realistic goal if he improves his level.

"The conditions are good. We need to start competing to understand the level. I'll participate in the Giro d'Italia, trying to improve on my sixth-place finish in 2025," Pellizzari shared with Quotidiano Sportivo.

Whilst Evenepoel and Lipowitz will lead the team at the Tour de France, and Primoz Roglic's schedule remains rather open, the Giro team will feature the climber duo alongside Danny van Poppel who will have freedom in the sprint stages, and Aleksandr Vlasov who will have a supportive role in the mountains but potentially also stage-hunting objectives.