'Even with three of us, Giulio was still pulling away': Arensman confirms Pellizzari's all-round dominance

INEOS Grenadiers threw everything at it on Friday, but Giulio Pellizzari was simply in a different class in the fifth and final stage of the Tour of the Alps. The young Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider rode clear on the final climb and then extended his lead over the INEOS pair of Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal on the long descent — alone. Everyone left Bolzano with nothing but respect for the result.

Pellizzari had worn the race leader's jersey for almost the entire week, having won a punchy uphill finish on day two to take the lead. On the final day he proved he was the best rider in the race — riding away on the climb after INEOS's work on the front, and staying away even as Arensman, Bernal and the late-arriving Michael Storer (Tudor) combined forces behind him.

Pellizzari described the stage and overall victory as "insane." He went "full gas" on the final climb, he said, after INEOS had already pushed the pace and Red Bull teammate Giovanni Aleotti had launched him perfectly. "The team has done incredible work over the past few days, and today too I couldn't have won without them. They deserve this — we have won this race."

When Jayco AlUla and INEOS turned the screw in a two-stage attack in the finale, Pellizzari was not immediately visible at the front. He described the finish as "quite tough" — but ultimately he took control regardless. It was his first overall victory in a stage race at any level: he had never managed it as a junior or under-23 rider either.

At the post-race press conference, the assembled Italian journalists were understandably jubilant — an overwhelmingly Italian race had not been won by an Italian for thirteen years. Pellizzari stepped into the shoes of Vincenzo Nibali, a legend of the sport in Italy. "I'm still young, so I can try to match his achievements," Pellizzari joked.

Or was he serious? Earlier in the week he explained that he has made a mental switch — it is no longer about playing at racing, but purely about winning. "I wasn't very certain of myself in the first few days, but that came back day by day. Everyone held my hand and believed in me. It's beautiful to be able to finish it off," he said poetically in his flash interview.

At the press conference too, Pellizzari reflected on how he grew into the race. "This morning we talked about bonus seconds and had a plan — but in my head I wanted to drop everyone and finish alone. It was flat out for a long time, but that only suits me. Sometimes I struggle when someone accelerates sharply, so it was good that the pace was constantly high. That is precisely my strength."

Pellizzari's weapons are not limited to climbing. He proved on Friday that he can descend too. After reaching the summit of the final climb with only a small lead, he turned that into half a minute by the bottom. "I rode flat out to the top," he said afterwards.

But it was the descent where he really made the difference — though Pellizzari grinned and insisted he had everything under control. "I think I did take a few risks, but I tried to keep it in check. The descent was fairly straightforward so you didn't lose speed easily. No, I really did have everything under control."

Arensman, however, told IDL Pro Cycling that Pellizzari had descended like a man possessed. "On descents I'm normally fairly fast, so when there were three of us I thought I could close the gap to Pellizzari. But even with three of us, Giulio was still pulling away. Chapeau to him. He deserved the win."