"Now we just have to live with the consequences" - BORA lament Giulio Pellizzari's fall-out in Giro d'Italia's final week

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe entered the Giro d'Italia with Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari to aim for the overall classification, but nothing would've prepared them for an illness that took several of its men out of path at the end of the first week. After a Giro of ups and downs, Giulio Pellizzari was the first victim of the final week of the race, falling out of GC contention on a day where the team aimed to attack the podium.

“We hoped that in the last week we could try something with both captains, maybe get them both on the podium or even dream big and put one of them in a position to attack Vingegaard," team DS Christian Pömer said in an interview with RAI.

There was logic to the plan, as on stage 14 it looked as if Pellizzari was back on track after an illness that saw him lose meaningful time on stage 9 and then struggle through most of the second week. Excluding the surviving Afonso Eulálio from the math, Hindley and Pellizzari would be fourth and fifth on GC entering the final week.

Hence, the weight was on their shoulders to attack the race, with Felix Gall and Thymen Arensman both under one minute away from Hindley, the winner of the 2022 edition.

Hence, after Team Visma | Lease a Bike took over the duties of controlling the stage to set up for a Jonas Vingegaard victory, Red Bull took over the pace in the peloton on the bottom of the climb to Carì. The German had several men lined up in front with Jai Hindley at the back of the train; but Giulio Pellizzari was nowhere to be seen.

Already at Milano-Torino and also stage 14, the Italian rider appeared to do his own race, isolated from his teammates. However this time around he did not have the legs. His own teammates' pace dropped Pellizzari from the GC group, without noticing. The look of confusion was notable as the Red Bull riders dispersed behind the Visma block; and soon after the TV broadcast would show Pellizzari completely let off the gas. At the finish line, he lost over 18 minutes.

"Our plan today was to gain time on our direct rivals Felix Gall and Thymen Arensmann, so we wanted to lead on the final climb. We did that, but at one point Giulio said he wasn’t feeling well. There was a brief discussion, and Giulio himself said ‘keep going, ride for Jai'," Pömer described.

“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.”

The Italian, winner of the Tour of the Alps just over a month ago, could not hang on to the GC group due to the extremely high pace. It was possible to limit losses and remain in contention for the white jersey and the Top10 most likely, but that was not the option he opted for.

Instead, he should switch to helping the team chase the final podium with Hindley, and potentially chase his first Giro stage win on the final mountainous days of the race.

“It was flat out from the first kilometer of the climb. It was too far from the finish, and I sat up,” the youngster said in a post-race interview. “Let’s hope I can recover in the coming days. Jai Hindley is still fighting for the podium, and we’ll try to help him.””