You remember Giulio Pellizzari. That young Italian kid seemingly in every break during the last week of the Giro d’Italia. The one who almost won on Monte Pana only to be devastatingly but predictably overtaken by Tadej Pogačar with 1,200m of road remaining. “I thought, ‘What a jerk!” Pellizzari laughs. “But I quickly got over it.” He did. Within minutes he was caught on TV asking Pogačar for his pink sunglasses, only for his fanboying to be rewarded instead with the coveted glasses and a maglia rosa. Instant viral content and millions of views: tick. Now you definitely know who we’re talking about.
“The whole sunglasses thing with Pogačar made me even more famous than if I had actually won the stage,” the 20-year-old tells Rouleur. “The day before my brother, Gabriele, had told me he’d love to have Pogačar’s pink sunglasses. I didn’t know how to get them for him – I even checked the Scicon website but they weren’t for sale. Then I came second behind Tadej and I just wanted to shake his hand since he’s my idol. But when I saw him I suddenly remembered the sunglasses my brother had asked for. Without thinking twice I asked him if he’d give them to me and he also gave me his pink jersey! Amazing!”
Pellizzari is more than just a Pogačar superfan inside the peloton, he’s also regarded as the future of Italian cycling and was the subject of a bidding war between most WorldTour teams for his signature. In the end, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe won, snapping him up for the following three years. The Pogačar story doesn’t end with the sunglasses and the jersey though: the duo share the same agent, Alex Carera, a mark of how prodigious his talent is; Pellizzari’s frequent laughs, and his enthusiasm and joy when he talks about cycling has shades of the Slovenian superstar; and, yes, just like a true fan, Pellizzari does have photos of him and the three-tour Tour de France winner at home. “I started following him when he won the Tour de l’Avenir [in 2018] and the next year, his first season as a pro, I went to Strade Bianche with a friend and asked him for a photo,” Pellizzari recalls. “I told my friend to take a picture with him as well because I knew he was going to be a star very soon but my friend said, ‘Come on, who’s this Slovenian guy?’ Now he regrets not taking that picture.”
Now, it’s people taking photos with Pellizzari. He dabbled in football and water polo as a kid, but his dad, Achille, introduced him to cycling like a “true Venetian.” But Pellizzari isn’t from the northeast coast; he’s from a small village in the Apennine mountains. That explains the climbing prowess, then. Solid but unspectacular as a junior, the youngster with the Gen Z floppy fringe haircut joined Bardiani CSF Faizanè as an 18-year-old in 2022. Learning was the aim of the game, but the next spring he almost beat a peloton full of WorldTour riders at the Tour of the Alps, finishing third on stage four at the age of 19. “That was probably the moment that opened my eyes,” he reflects.
From there, he won the final stage of the Tour de l’Avenir and finished second overall to Isaac Del Toro who subsequently signed for UAE Team Emirates. “I did really well but since it’s an under-23 race, you never know exactly how you measure up against the pros,” he says. “I only realised what I’d achieved this January when I woke up one morning and saw that Del Toro had won the first WorldTour race of the year [a stage at the Tour Down Under] and I was racing against him at l’Avenir. Seeing him do so well among the pros gave me a real boost for the year.”
His belief was locked in and he was once again in contention at the Tour of the Alps. Selected for his maiden Giro, he was beset by illness in the first fortnight. “I suffered like a dog,” he remembers. “But I don’t like quitting races.” When the race reached the Dolomites, he was better – and he was also impatient. “In the third week, I got my legs back, taking on the mountain stages with a lot of anger and a strong desire to prove myself,” he says. “Even now, when I think back to the day on Monte Grappa (stage 20, he finished sixth with the main GC group), I get goosebumps.” There was no fear, only uninhibited ambition. “I love putting on a show,” he smiles. “When my legs feel good, I just can’t sit still. I attack, I always give it a go, even though sometimes I should be more patient. I’m still working on finishing, I should win more, but attacking is just too much fun.” He sounds like his idol Pogačar, right?
“Joining Bardiani was the best decision I could have made, even though I know these days many guys prefer to go to WorldTour development teams,” he continues when referencing his three seasons with the Giro ever-presents. “They believed in me, I felt at home from day one. I’ve had three really fun years and I hope they keep getting great results even without me.” He still has a few races remaining with them, principally the Italian autumn Classics, but then he’ll make the jump – or small step, based on performances so far – to the WorldTour.
“I’d love to become a Grand Tour rider, but who knows?” he says. “I’m curious to see what the future holds.” He’s definitely got the skills going up a mountain, but general classification riding requires a more complete repertoire. “Time trials? I don’t know much about them!” he laughs. “Seriously though, I don’t even have a time trial bike at home so I can’t train for them. I actually enjoy the effort involved in time trials, though, so I can’t wait to start working on it more seriously next winter.”
Red Bull will put him through his paces. “They’re building something incredible,” he says. “Why did I choose Red Bull? Well, they’ve been interested in me ever since that third place at the Tour of Alps. I felt really wanted and that made me happy.” So is he the heir to Vincenzo Nibali, the next Italian to regularly fly the green, white and red tricolore in WorldTour racing, perhaps even emulate his hero Pogačar and win the golden, never-ending Giro trophy? “The next Italian star?” he repeats the question. “I just do what I have to do, and whatever happens, happens. Honestly, I don’t think about it. Actually, I don’t care.” And he laughs again. Pogačar does that, too.
Carlo Malvestio contributed to this article.
