Last Friday, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe‘s Giro d’Italia GC ambitions seemed over due to lingering illness, but after a sudden recovery and strong showing on the mountain stage to Pila, Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari could relax on the rest day and prepare for the final week in the mountains with optimism.
“We’re still on track to finish on the podium and we can be there in Rome,” Pellizzari said.
“There’s still plenty of good racing to come. I wouldn’t take anything off the table,” Hindley added.
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Hindley is well placed for a shot at a place on the final podium, while Pellizzari is arguably the favourite to win the best young rider’s white jersey and so could also be feted and celebrated in Rome.
Both Red Bull riders suffered during week two of the Giro. Pellizzari was struck with a digestive problem and lost significant time to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on stage 9. They both tried to limit their losses in the Tuscan time trial and battled on as the Giro rode north.
They were pessimistic before the mountain stage to Pila but fought back. They lost another minute to Vingegaard and a few seconds to Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) but gained time on all the other GC contenders.
Hindley and Pellizzari suffered all last week but it was worth it.
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“I had a lingering cough. It was hard to shake it off when you ride their bike every day but I think we can be happy now,” the Western Australian said of the Pila stage.
“We had a pretty rough second rest day, so it was nice to be up there with Giulio. Personally, I didn’t have the best legs on the stage to Pila, I would say, and was suffering a bit, but I was happy.
“If you can manage to do the ride that Giulio did, then you’ve got the legs. So I’m happy to see him back up there.”
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Pellizzari was also smiling again.
“Finally I can say I’m feeling better. I’m not 100% but I’m getting there,” the 22-year-old Italian said.
“I was super happy with my performance on the stage to Pila and also to be there with Jai.”
Before the third week begins on Tuesday, Hindley is fifth overall, 3:43 down on Vingegaard but only 40 seconds down on Arensman and only 53 behind Gall, with Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) expected to drop out of contention for the podium.
Pellizzari is sixth overall at 4:22 but is only 1:56 down on Eulálio in the best young white jersey competition.
Both have plenty to ride for, starting with the mountain stage to Carì in Switzerland on Tuesday. The stage is short at 113km but ends with an 11.7km climb to the line at an average gradient of 7.9%.
“Tuesday can be a tricky stage,” Hindley warned.
“It’s the day after the rest day and it’ll be ‘on’. You never know how it goes but it’s another key stage. like every day this next week.”
Pellizzari especially fears the five-star stage 19 to Alleghe, which climbs high into the Dolomites.
“It is really hard because there is a lot of climbing. But all the stages are hard this next week. The stage to Carì is a one-shot finish, while the two climbs of Piancavallo on Saturday will also be hard,” he said.
Hindley and Pellizzari are riding for the podium and white jersey but will also be watching Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike in case they stumble and offer opportunities.
“It’s hard to hurt Visma but I always say the Giro finishes in Rome and that’s true for everybody,” Pellizzari said.
“Jonas will race all the way to Rome, he’s not going on holiday just yet. It’ll be hard and they’re riding to win but we’ll ride our race too.”
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