Giulio Pellizzari is happy to see the back of the Giro d'Italia: ‘I’m going to burn all my race numbers’

Giulio Pellizzari had a brutal Giro d’Italia. The Italian podium hopeful became ill and, as a result, completely dropped out of the general classification. The smiling Italian did finish the Giro, but in Rome he was glad it was over. He spoke to CyclingNews about his difficult Tour of Italy.

Before the race, Pellizzari was seen as one of the biggest challengers to top favourite Jonas Vingegaard. On the stage to Blockhaus, the Italian briefly seemed capable of living up to that label by following Vingegaard, but he blew himself up and dropped back significantly. The illness that later spread through the race then completely wrecked his Giro.

During stage 16, things went completely wrong for the 22-year-old climbing talent. The Italian was dropped early and lost no fewer than 18 minutes to his rivals. Even so, he did not feel sorry for himself and kept helping his team. After being brought back from the breakaway, he even helped Hindley get back to Gall’s wheel in the final mountain stage.

In hindsight, Pellizzari is especially proud of his perseverance. “I am happy that I made it to Rome, especially after all the suffering I did in the last few days.” The usually cheerful Italian does not need fond memories from this Giro. “I’m going to burn all my race numbers and give away everything I have from this race. I do not want to keep anything from this Giro. Hopefully next time it goes better.”

The Italian is mainly relieved that it is over. “This is the race where I have had to suffer the most in my life. I am happy it is finished.” Now that Pellizzari has crossed the finish line, however, he also realises he may learn a great deal from such a setback. “I hope this race can help me grow and mature. I first need some time to understand what happened and deal with the disappointment, but for now I am mainly happy that it is over,” he said in Rome.