Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe issue rest day update after a difficult week for Pellizzari and Hindley at the Giro

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe looked like the team to take the fight to Jonas Vingegaard for the rest of the Giro d'Italia after Blockhaus, but Sunday was a rude awakening. Giulio Pellizzari lost time due to stomach problems, while Jai Hindley, who finished third on Friday, had to settle for ninth place on Sunday. An uncontrollable slide for the men in blue and white?

Pellizzari finished 22nd on Corno alle Scale, a minute and a half down on stage winner Jonas Vingegaard. "Maybe it's a virus, but the doctors are going to investigate. I can't say much more about it right now, but it was clear that Giulio was feeling bad. He told us so several times on the radio," coach Sylwester Szmyd had already told this site after the stage.

Team director Christian Pömer gave an interim assessment on the second rest day on behalf of the German outfit, confirming it was stomach problems that had affected Pellizzari. "The first eight days were really excellent and went according to plan, but on Sunday we had a small setback due to illness."

Despite that, the team stress that the damage to Pellizzari has been limited. The rest day was welcome news for him and he did not take to the bike for a recovery ride on Monday. The same went for teammate Gianni Moscon, who likewise suffered from stomach problems and finished 158th on Sunday.

Pömer remains in a positive frame of mind. "We still have 65 per cent of the climbing ahead of us, plus a time trial. So we're confident that we can still achieve our two goals: a podium place in the general classification and a stage win."

"Team spirit is genuinely excellent. That's why we believe we can pick things back up in the coming days," the German added. Both co-leaders face an important day on Tuesday with the time trial departing from Viareggio. After that, there are a few days for the attacking riders, before the GC men must be ready again for the brutal 14th stage to Pila