Red Bull's Giulio Pellizzari was shocked by his critics in 2026 : 'Even former pros questioned my abilities'

Pellizzari had an outstanding spring, finishing third in the Tour of Valencia and Tirreno-Adriatico, and even winning the Tour of the Alps. For that reason, he was identified as the main challenger to Jonas Vingegaard in the Giro d’Italia, who came to Italy on behalf of Visma | Lease a Bike to win his third and long-awaited Grand Tour.

Pellizzari went into it with his guard down, determined to go head-to-head with the Danish superstar. On the seventh day, heading toward the summit of Blockhaus, the Italian reached his limits as he bravely tried to keep up with Vingegaard. He overplayed his hand and ultimately finished fourth in the stage results. However, the bottom line was that he was happy with the effort.

In the end, Pellizzari only had the chance to go head-to-head with Vingegaard in Stage 7, because while the Dane was aiming for five stage wins and the overall victory, Pellizzari was struggling with illness.

The young climber never fully recovered and completely fell apart in the third week. He finished his first Grand Tour as Red Bull’s true team leader in 21st place.

The fact that he helped Jai Hindley onto the podium didn’t matter much to the public. Pellizzari read reports claiming he had faked his illness and that he couldn’t handle the pressure. Months later, during an interview on the Triciclo podcast, he said about that: “I went from chasing Vingegaard to breaking away with sprinters like Jonathan Milan. It was bizarre that some people thought I wasn’t sick."

"People insinuated that my climbing ability was on par with that of the sprinters, but in 2025 I finished as one of the youngest riders in the top ten of two Grand Tours in a single season. Suddenly, I was no longer considered a Grand Tour rider. Even former pros questioned my abilities. That hurt, and I was tempted to ask why they were so critical."

In an interview with Domestique, Pellizzari added: “I hope that everything I’ve been through will be useful for 2027. It was a pivotal season for my development, and I learned so much. It was great to win a few races, but I learned much more from the times when things went wrong.”

We’d almost forget that, in addition to winning two stages and the overall title at the Tour of the Alps, Pellizzari also won a stage at the Tour of Burgos and the Tour of Germany. He also claimed victory at the Giro della Toscana.

“But the Giro taught me a lot above all else: that I need to stay calm, shut out the outside world, stay in my own world, and not let what people say get to me.”