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Giulio Pellizzari was one of the stars of an otherwise Tadej Pogacar-dominated Giro d’Italia in 2024. Coming second behind the Slovenian on stage 16 and in the King of the Mountains classification, the young Italian left a lasting impression on the cycling world. Secure entry into the World Tour for 2025 with Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe.
However, at the Giro d’Italia and throughout the 2024 season, the 20-year-old still rode in the colors of VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè. “This year he made a big leap before the Giro d’Italia and another after,” explains Bardiani boss Roberto Reverberi in an interview with Bici. “Finishing the Giro in this way, that is, being strong in the third week, is very important. Even more so because he had been sick. He was one step away from retiring. Then he was in the final instead. As an outlier he got two placings and those were tough days. The recovery from the illness and the third week like this were two really positive signs for the rest of his career.
As previously mentioned, these groundbreaking performances earned Pellizzari a move to the World Tour with Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe. While it’s obviously sad to see his star prospect go, Reverberi is confident that Pellizzari will be given the opportunity to succeed at the highest level. “I hope they don’t just make him a domestique. I would take him to the Giro and give him his space. I wouldn’t just let him go. But I think they will take him there. I asked Giulio if he had already done so.” “I didn’t know anything about his plans for 2025, but he told me that they still had to implement them,” he reveals. “I told him good luck for the rest of his career. He hugged me, he got a little emotional… and so did I. In the end it was a nice story and it’s nice to see them achieve certain results. Ciccone in the yellow jersey or Colbrelli winning the Roubaix. It’s also nice to see the drivers who were with us come to our bus to drink coffee.
However, that doesn’t mean that Pellizzari goes to BORA as a finished article. “Of course he has leeway. And not a little. He also needs physical training, that’s why I say he has some. He can drive better and I can imagine that he will now also invest time in time trials,” explains Reverberi. “We didn’t have a need, so we never let him work too much in that specialty. He had the bike at home, but it is clear that he will work on it differently now. Instead, he needs to improve one aspect a bit” is his approach to long climbs. It takes a while to get going again and may even drop you. It’s physiological and will improve over time.”
