"The Giro d'Italia? I'm a reserve and shouldn't race it, but I'll compete in my first Vuelta". This is how Giulio Pellizzari spoke during the first training camps with Red Bull Bora. Whether he'll participate in the Vuelta or not, we can't exclude it, and as Italians, we're intrigued by what role he might be given. However, the unfortunate circumstances for Matteo Sobrero (to whom we wish a strong comeback after the injuries in the first half of the year) have opened the doors for the twenty-one-year-old from San Severino Marche. He will be the domestique for that champion he "admired for years as Roglic and then got to know as Primoz".

Last year, Pellizzari's Giro with VF Bardiani Csf Faizan was divided into two parts: initial difficulties, health problems that nearly led to his withdrawal, then a recovery and a final week as a "raging bull", full of breakaways and placements, with embraces with his idol Pogacar.

This year, his Giro was also divided into two parts, but with a very different type of crescendo: not in form (which was excellent from the start) but in rank and status. Alongside Hindley's withdrawal (a slip on a wet descent that led to the semi-neutralization of the Naples stage) and especially Roglic's, who fell on the Tuscan gravel roads, was slowed on the Gorizia cobblestones, and finally crashed at the foot of Bondone at the beginning of the fateful third week, Pellizzari's overall standings grew until he became the official leader of his team.

At that point, he was 18th overall, between Poole and Ulissi: a position built and simultaneously "limited" by the obligations, justly assigned by the team and perfectly fulfilled by the young man, of supporting Roglic. Critical moments included. The embraces and words between captain and domestique after the finishes exuded complicity and made those observing this Italian talent proud with affectionate anticipation. To those who asked him with a hint of mischief if he wouldn't like to be redesignated as captain, given the growing difficulties of the experienced Slovenian, the young Marche rider would respond that yes, he feels good, yes, he likes the idea of seeking personal joys, but he came to this Giro that he wasn't even supposed to race to fulfill a specific task for a great champion, and that's right. And to those who asked if he regretted the lack of an Italian World Tour team that would allow him to be the designated leader, he would respond that he feels good in this German World Tour team, where he feels part of a great international family. Where, moreover, the trainer is Italian, Paolo Artuso.

But let's go back to Tuesday, May 24th. Roglic withdraws from the race. Giulio's world changes direction and places him at the center of the Red Bull Bora solar system. He doesn't hesitate: in that same stage, he shoots away from the pink jersey group on Monte Baldo, slaloms among the breakaway riders, finishes third behind the Scaroni-Fortunato parade, and immediately enters the top ten overall. And he tells the media: "I let out all the accumulated anger! Winning the Giro? Obviously, I want to do it someday, but in the three stages that await us now, it's best that I think about racing and enjoying myself. Without particular objectives or proclamations..."

By "anger" he means the healthy, sporting kind. The kind that seems almost impossible to belong to Pellizzari: so smiling, so genuine in verbal and physiognomic expression, so polite, so friendly, so enthusiastic, so available, with that charming central Italian accent. Does he have the necessary competitive edge, that awareness of means and objectives that underlies a winning athlete? Well, he is a representative of Generation Z, the one that, as Lucio Corsi reminds us on Italian and international stages, doesn't need to "be tough" to succeed in life. That doesn't need to act macho in front of cameras and in declarations to "pedal hard" on the bicycle. Who can greet his mom on live TV and exchange pats, hugs, smiles, and water sips with friend Isaac Del Toro, even if the Mexican is in the pink jersey and Giulio is his direct competitor, without being a soft or incapable cyclist of expressing his maximum potential to beat opponents. On the Mortirolo, Storer and Tiberi drop off, but Pellizzari remains in the vanguard of the peloton (with a lucid thanks to Aleotti who pulled for him) and gains two more positions. At Champoluc, a youthful error brings him close to a barrier on the final straight, without any consequence to his physical integrity or time gaps. In the evening, Roglic calls him, reassures him, encourages him, and on Saturday on the Colle delle Finestre, he manages perfectly alongside Gee, Caruso, and Poole in pursuit of the "quarreling" Del Toro and Carapaz: overtaking Bernal in the standings, who this time couldn't hold on, and a sixth overall position. And now? Awaiting future developments, we rely on his current considerations: "The top 5 were stronger, I gave my all and I'm truly happy. It's not like my career changes overnight: my path within this team, where I truly feel at ease, and my growth as a rider continue according to the trend we've set. Certainly on three-week races and big climbs, I can maintain my form, so I'll continue to think big (my big dream is the Tour de France) while always enjoying myself. The important thing, and I think of the younger riders in today's cycling who are forced to be hyper-focused on preparation and nutrition aspects that I maybe discovered after 3-4 years as a professional, is not to lose love for this sport beyond numbers and watts. Cycling is already very tiring, if you don't enjoy it..."

cover story from tuttoBICI June issue