“It will be different when you have 45 minutes of climbing, like Blockhaus” - Giulio Pellizzari stays grounded after passing first Vingegaard test at Giro d'Italia

Giulio Pellizzari passed the first direct Jonas Vingegaard test of the Giro d’Italia, but the Italian is refusing to treat Stage 2 in Bulgaria as proof of what will happen when the race reaches its first major mountain showdown.

The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider was one of only two riders able to follow Vingegaard when the Dane attacked near the top of the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass, with Lennert Van Eetvelt also joining the move. The trio briefly looked capable of contesting the stage win before being caught in the final kilometre, where Guillermo Thomas Silva sprinted to victory and moved into the Maglia Rosa.

For Pellizzari, it was still an important early marker. On a chaotic day shaped by a mass crash before the final climb, the Italian stayed upright, responded to the race favourite and finished fifth on the stage.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net before Stage 3, however, Pellizzari was careful not to overstate what the result means for the wider GC battle. “Yeah, I’m watching myself. I felt pretty good, so we can be confident,” he said. “Of course yesterday was a short climb, and it will be different when you have 45 minutes of climbing, like Blockhaus. But for now, everything is good.”

Pellizzari’s strong finish came on a difficult day for the peloton, with the crash on wet roads forcing a temporary neutralisation and taking several major names out of the race.

Red Bull avoided the worst of the damage. Aleksandr Vlasov was caught up in the incident, but Pellizzari said the team had come through without the kind of consequences suffered elsewhere. “Not the best with the crash, but in the end everybody was safe,” he said. “Only Vlasov crashed, but now he is still fine. We are happy and we keep fighting.”

That final line fits Red Bull’s position after two stages. They have not taken control of the Giro, and Vingegaard remains the clear reference point, but Pellizzari’s response to the Visma attack showed that they have a rider capable of reacting when the race tightens.

It also came on the kind of short, sharp climb that suits Pellizzari’s explosiveness. The bigger question is whether the same can happen when the Giro reaches longer climbs, deeper fatigue and the kind of terrain where Vingegaard is expected to exert more sustained pressure.

Before those major tests, the Giro still has one more Bulgarian stage and a rest day before transferring to Italy. For Pellizzari, that return carries extra meaning. “Here is beautiful, but your home country is always your home,” he said. “For us Italians, I think we feel the public more in Italy. But we are happy to be here, now focused on today and then tomorrow is the rest day.”

That focus matters. Stage 2 gave Pellizzari a confidence boost, but it also underlined how quickly the Giro can change. Adam Yates, Jay Vine, Marc Soler and Santiago Buitrago are already out after crashes, while other contenders have been left nursing injuries or time losses.

Pellizzari has earned attention after matching Vingegaard’s first attack. Now comes the harder task: turning one promising response into a genuine three-week challenge once the Giro reaches Italian roads.