With Ayuso and Tiberi dropping back, Pellizzari keeps cool: "White jersey is not a goal"

Pellizzari was already a contender for the white jersey before the Vuelta, but after Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) dropped out on day 6, Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) also dropped out early in stage 7 on Friday. And so, after seven days of racing, Pellizzari is in white, with only Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Raul García Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Junior Lecerf (Soudal-Quick Step) as realistic opponents.

Pellizzari had already indicated after stage 6 that he was aiming for the white jersey. “When I saw that Ayuso had to drop back, I thought about the jersey,” he said afterwards, wearing the youth jersey. “I don't know what happened, but I didn't expect Ayuso to drop back. Today is a very emotional day for me. I hope I can keep the white jersey for a long time,” he said hopefully. And now that Tiberi has also dropped out, that is suddenly a very realistic hope.

After the seventh stage, the Italian climbing talent confessed that a scenario like Tiberi's could have happened to him too. “Today was really hard from the start, everybody was really tired after yesterday and the TTT,” said the best young rider via the organization. “In the end I was better than in the start, so it’s good. We will see tomorrow, I hope it will be a 'rest day'.”

The fact that his legs felt heavy was no cause for concern for Pellizzari. "I think and I hope that everybody [among the favorites] was tired, the climb was hard because we were tired and we still have a long way to Madrid, so we will have a lot of stages to test the legs. The [white] jersey is a plus, I want to test my leg and we will see where I can arrive. The jersey is not a goal: I came here for the stages and to help Jai [Hindley] in the mountains. Now I’m here, I just want to enjoy this Vuelta with a nice group. I want to say thanks to the team that is making a very good job, and just to enjoy."