"We prefer to get both of them on the podium": Mick van Dijke ready to guide Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe's leaders at the Giro

The Giro d'Italia is packing up and moving from Bulgaria to Italy, and while sprinters like Paul Magnier have grabbed the early headlines, the big overall favorites already tested their legs during Stage 2. Giulio Pellizzari was the only rider who could stay with top favorite Jonas Vingegaard on the climbs. Now, his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe teammate Mick van Dijke is settling into his job as a bodyguard for the team's stars.

Van Dijke has a clear job during this three-week race: keep his team leaders, Pellizzari and Jai Hindley, safe and out of trouble. Interestingly, this is the first time the Dutchman is actually racing alongside Pellizzari.

"It is actually my first race with him," Van Dijke explained in words to In de Leiderstrui. "So we have to get to know each other a bit, but you immediately notice that Giulio is very cheerful. It is very cozy at the table."

While he likes to joke around with his teammates at dinner, Van Dijke is all business out on the road. The team has massive goals for the final general classification, and they are not hiding their ambition.

"I am of course mainly here in a supporting role for the general classification, because we want to ride for that with Jai and Giulio," he said. "After Jonas [Vingegaard], who is the top favorite, we have two very good guys. We prefer to get both of them on the podium."

Van Dijke is riding his second Grand Tour, having completed the Tour de France last year. However, his build-up to this Giro was incredibly short. He had a very busy and successful spring classics season, which ended with an impressive fifth-place finish at Paris-Roubaix. After that, he had to quickly switch gears to get ready for Italy.

"In December we already had the plan to possibly do the Giro, but after Flanders that decision was made. So I haven't had much time," he said.

Because fitness drops fast if you stop riding, Van Dijke only took five actual days off the bike to recover from the brutal spring races. During that tiny break, he did "normal" things and went with his family to watch his twin brother, Tim, race the Amstel Gold Race. That day turned into a big party, as their teammate Remco Evenepoel ended up winning the race.

While his main focus is protecting Hindley and Pellizzari, Van Dijke hopes he might get a lucky day to ride for himself. "I might get the chance to slip into a breakaway or maybe try to sprint in a smaller group," he noted. "But that is not easy. On the days when that chance is there, there are 150 others who want to take that chance. It would of course be great if we could book some success next to a high overall finish."

Looking further ahead, the Van Dijke brothers share a dream of riding the Tour de France together. It looks like Tim will get to race the Tour this July, but Mick will have to watch from home.

"That will be very strange," he admitted. "The combination with the classics in modern cycling is already very heavy, so in July I will rest anyway. For me the Tour will normally not be an option, but with injuries you never know."