Rising Italian star Giulio Pellizzari gave himself a huge confidence boost with only two weeks till start of the Giro d’Italia when he won stage five and the GC at the Tour of the Alps on Friday.
The 22-year-old attacked on the final climb, distancing GC rivals Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal (both Ineos Grenadiers), before descending with aplomb to the finish at Bolzano, northern Italy.
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Italian fans could hardly have dreamed of a finer denouement to the race; their great hope of finally finding a stage race talent who could, one day, repeat Vincenzo Nibali’s 2016 Giro d’Italia victory – the nation’s most recent, coming through in style. Just in time for their national tour, too.
The stage represented only his third professional victory (his win on stage two was the second), and the overall win was the first time he’d won a stage race. Leading the race was a different experience to what he’d been used to in the past – he’d learned about the pressures involved.
Pellizzari will now attend an altitude camp with team-mate Gianni Moscon – who will ride with him at the Giro d’Italia – before flying out to Bulgaria for the Grande Partenza.
Tour of the Alps stage 5, Trento > Bolzano, 128.6km
1. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, 128km in 3:20:36
2. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +30s
3. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, both at same time
5. Jacob Omrzel (Slov) Bahrain Victorious, +1.10
6. Chris Harper (Aus) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling
7. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla
8. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, all at same time
9. Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2.20
10. Jefferson Alexander Cepeda (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2.22
Final general classification
1. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, in 19:02:52
2. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +40s.
3. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +50s
4. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1.09
5. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1.45
6. Jacob Omrzel (Slov) Bahrain Victorious, +1.55
7. Chris Harper (Aus) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling at s.t.
8. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, +1.59
9. Alexandr Vlasov (Rus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2.51
10. Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3.11
