Superstition keeps him away from declared objectives and bombastic proclamations, but that the Tour of the Alps is not just any race for Giulio Pellizzari becomes immediately apparent. A week before the start of the euro-regional event, scheduled for April 20-24 across Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino, the 22-year-old from the Marche region is on a training camp at Teide. A mountain that has long represented a crucial crossroads for those who want to shine when the road climbs. Pellizzari knows this well – and he also knows that the Tour of the Alps will say much about his ambitions for the general classification at the Giro d'Italia, because those who perform on the roads of the Euregio usually have the legs to think big.

After his excellent third-place finish at Tirreno-Adriatico, Pellizzari can no longer hide. Not only his team, RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe, is counting on him, having entrusted him with the role of captain at both the #TotA and the Corsa Rosa, but also Italian fans, who since Vincenzo Nibali's retirement have been waiting for a new protagonist capable of thrilling them in stage races.

The palmares of the Tour of the Alps remind us of this, where Italy is still without a victory. To find the last Italian triumph, you have to go back to the 2013 Giro del Trentino. The signature – needless to say – belongs to the 'Shark of the Strait', who later also won the Giro d'Italia.

"My desire is to do very well and achieve a great result. I'm very superstitious and I won't reveal my objective to you (smiles), but I really care about it," Pellizzari's first words, before he lets slip: "Who was the last Italian to win the general classification?"

More than a statement of intent from the young rider from the Marche region. The objective is the Melinda Green Jersey, the symbol of supremacy. This is also demonstrated by the care with which he has studied the route. "I'm researching the Val Martello finish and I've practiced the last 70-80 kilometers of the queen stage, with the finish in Trento. It's very demanding: the two long climbs in the first part of the route will be felt in the finale, where there are shorter but explosive ascents. But at that point even a brief climb can make a selection".

"The Tour of the Alps is an important race, with always very high-level competition, that gives you the right answers ahead of the Giro d'Italia. I'm also very attached to it: in 2023, in one of my first races as a professional, the Predazzo stage made me understand that I was a real rider. Looking back, I also missed an opportunity to win, but it was a fundamental day for my career: there I understood that I had a future in cycling".

Alongside Pellizzari, RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe fields quality riders at the Tour of the Alps such as Giovanni Aleotti and Aleksandr Vlasov, as well as the Under 23 World Champion Lorenzo Finn, about whom Pellizzari has important words: "He's really strong, very promising. I wish him to do what I did at my first Tour of the Alps – and even better".

"The rivals? There are many and all strong, from Storer who went very well last year to O'Connor who came close to winning two years ago, not to mention Derek Gee. It will be a great confrontation, but I want to be ready".

To Ben O'Connor and the top three finishers of the last edition of the Tour of the Alps – Michael Storer, Thymen Arensman and Derek Gee – could be added, among Pellizzari's rivals, also a new adversary: Egan Bernal. The Colombian champion, who revealed himself to the general public on these euro-regional roads before triumphing at the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, has yet to confirm his participation.

A confrontation between great specialists of stage races, for which Pellizzari feels ready. "In winter I worked on strength to be more explosive and I've improved. In contemporary cycling it's necessary to absorb violent changes of pace to be able to win races. And then training alongside champions like Roglic, Lipowitz, Evenepoel gives me so much every day. I understand how much I'm missing to reach that level. And how much are you missing? Still something but not much, I need to make the final step".

Without proclamations but with increasingly concrete ambitions, Giulio Pellizzari presents himself at the Tour of the Alps to understand how close he is to the definitive leap. The answers will come from the road. Answers that could say much about the future of Italian cycling as well.