Red Bull's bold TT predictions ring hollow as Pellizzari struggles on the Corno alle Scale

Some thought it was reckless, but at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe they were delighted that Giulio Pellizzari tried to follow Jonas Vingegaard on day seven of the Giro d'Italia. The young Italian went well over his limit and lost time — but the team believed they had gathered useful information. The bold claims made by Pellizzari's coach Sylwester Szmyd to IDL Pro Cycling can be filed away for now after Sunday's stage.

Pellizzari was without question the biggest challenger to Vingegaard on paper. The 22-year-old had impressed in April with two stage wins and the overall at the Tour of the Alps, and was brave enough on day seven to be the only rider to hold Vingegaard's wheel. That lasted just over a kilometre — then Pellizzari went into freefall.

While public opinion wavered between "brave" and "reckless," coach Szmyd had been overwhelmingly positive when IDL Pro Cycling spoke to him after stage eight. "He did everything right. We spoke together the evening before Blockhaus and I asked whether he wanted to follow or not. Giulio said immediately: I'm going to follow, and I'll stay on his wheel for as long as I can."

That had less to do with ego and more to do with gathering information. "It was important — we needed to know just how good Jonas really is. Now we know," Szmyd laughed. "But we would never have known if he'd just ridden his own tempo from the start. Can you imagine if Jonas had been slightly less strong and Giulio had finished close — knowing he could have stayed and maybe even won?"

Even though Pellizzari had heavy legs the day after Blockhaus on the explosive finish in Fermo, his coach was still talking boldly at the Red Bull bus. Vingegaard had proven stronger in the mountains — but ahead of Tuesday's time trial, Szmyd was bullish. "I expect Giulio to do better than Jonas — I genuinely believe that. That might surprise others, but it won't surprise me."

"We are absolutely not thinking about limiting damage — quite the opposite, we want to take time," he continued. Pellizzari had made significant strides in time trialling over the winter and the months leading into this Giro. "We have known the Giro route for five months — since day one we've known that the 42-kilometre time trial is going to be enormously important. I believe Giulio can do very well there and can cause a surprise."

What's more, Szmyd argued, Pellizzari was only going to get stronger as the Giro wore on. On Blockhaus he had put out better numbers than at the Tour of the Alps. "Before this Giro, Giulio was deliberately not at one hundred percent. The route gives him the opportunity to grow into it — so I'm happy with where he stands. We've done what we needed to do. Now it's up to him."

How quickly things can change. Roughly 24 hours after that enthusiastic interview, the same Szmyd stood at the bus with question marks in his eyes. Pellizzari had just lost a minute and a half to stage winner Vingegaard — and on the final climb he had been unable to hold most of the other GC riders either. "He didn't feel good all day," his coach told us.

And that is a puzzling development. How can a rider deteriorate so quickly in the space of two days? The answer seems easy enough to guess — but Szmyd was not prepared to speculate just yet. "Maybe it's a virus, but the doctors are going to investigate. I can't say much about it now — but it was clear that Giulio felt bad today. He said so several times over the radio."

For now, the Italian at least limited the damage — considering he spent virtually the entire finale hanging off the back of the favourites group. Perhaps his legs were also paying the price for the enormous effort on Blockhaus? Sitting ninth in the classification, nearly three minutes behind Vingegaard, a dazzling time trial performance feels a long way away.

Perhaps Monday's rest day will work wonders...