Did injured Pellizzari push too far in his eagerness to race for home fans at Tirreno-Adriatico?

On stage four of the Tirreno, Pellizzari surprisingly claimed the blue leader’s jersey by finishing second behind Mathieu van der Poel in a sprint. It was a testament to his form, having already held his own against Van der Poel and his good friend Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) in a gravel-based final on stage two.

As the stages leading up to the final weekend became more demanding, everyone braced for a battle between the young guns Del Toro and Pellizzari, but the Italian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe unfortunately had to shift down a gear. In the fifth stage, he lost his leader’s jersey to Del Toro again and fought his way to sixth place in the results. On Saturday, he finished fourth.

In the stage to Camerino, Pellizzari was only overtaken in the very final moments by Del Toro himself, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) on his wheel. It was an extra disappointment for Pellizzari, who started the stage from his hometown of San Severino Marche and was thus racing in front of his home crowd.

In the overall standings, Pellizzari is expected to make it onto the final podium. Del Toro will take the overall victory, but the Italian is in second place, 42 seconds behind. Jorgenson is third, 43 seconds behind, so bonus seconds in the final stage—with a flat finish—could potentially cause a slight shift in the standings.

The big question is: should Pellizzari have even made it to the finish of the Tirreno-Adriatico? Although his legs are still turning well, he admitted after the sixth stage that he’s riding with an injury. “I was worried for a moment that I wouldn’t be able to finish the Tirreno. If we hadn’t ridden on my home roads today, I probably would have given up.”

Did Pellizzari push too hard? “Whether I finish second or third on Sunday isn’t that important. I just want to be on the podium now,” said the Red Bull talent, who, despite a tendon injury, enjoyed racing and attacking in front of his home crowd. “It was incredible to race at home. I think it will take a while before I realize what happened. Maybe this will never happen again.”