Giulio Pellizzari was well aware that the pressure on him to perform as Italy's best GC hope at the Giro d'Italia will increase with the race finally reaching its home roads today, but up to this point, he's had the answer for every test thrown at him.
He escaped the chaos of the crashes on stages 1 and 2, as did his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates, before responding to the first attack by heavy favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on the road to Veliko Tarnovo alongside Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché), though their group was caught 500 metres from the line.
Pellizzari took it as a big positive, and with the likes of Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), teammate and former Giro winner Jai Hindley, and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) all failing to follow, it was a sign that the 22-year-old Italian was deserving of the hype which followed him to the start in Bulgaria.
"It was important for me to be able to follow, especially for the morale, but in the end, nothing happened, and every GC rider arrived together at the finish line," Pellizzari recalled to Cyclingnews at the start of stage 3. "So it was a good test, but we have to keep focus on the next days."
Pellizzari's confidence was understandably high before racing at the Giro in Italy finally got going on the road from Catanzaro to Cosenza on stage 4. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport on the rest day, he wasn't afraid to admit that he's not simply aiming for the podium, and that overall victory is his goal, even given the colossal challenge presented by the two-time Tour de France winner and defending Vuelta champion Vingegaard.
"No one is unbeatable," said Pellizzari, as Gazzetta asked him whether beating the Dane was actually possible across the next 18 days.
"I feel good, really. My legs are there. Vingegaard is going really fast, but I'm happy I stayed close to him and defended well [on stage 2]."
Pellizzari is currently six seconds down on new pink jersey Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), and actually moved four seconds ahead of Vingegaard overall with an impressive sprint at the Red Bull Kilometre.
Italy will be holding its breath that he arrives at the first real big climbing test up the iconic Blockhaus on stage 7 with that same gap, but he'll have two more undulating, and potentially very stress-inducing, stages to get through before he can try again to match Vingegaard. Especially on Wednesday's testing day of climbing over 203km from Praia a Mare to Potenza.
Having really stepped up as a leader at Red Bull these past two seasons since joining from Bardiani, though, he seemed to be taking it all in his stride. Even with 2026 marking 10 years since Italy last won the Giro with Vincenzo Nibali, Pellizzari doesn't seem to be feeling any of that pressure.
"I mean, for now, I don't feel too much pressure. Of course, when we arrive in Italy, it will be pretty different," said Pellizzari. "But we can wait. It's good that I have a lot of people supporting me, and this will give me more energy for the battle.
"If we compare ourselves to France, we still have a 30-year head start!" he added, in reference to the 40-year drought endured by the Tour de France for a home male winner – a different kind of pressure that Frenchman Paul Seixas will have to shoulder on debut in July. "But in 30 years, I'll have already quit. Jokes aside, I don't feel that pressure.
"As a child, I dreamed above all of the yellow jersey. But after racing the Giro twice, my dream changed colour: now it's more pink."
Pellizzari is already eyeing the brutal Blockhaus climb in Abruzzo, and said that the 13.6km climb, which averages 8.6% gradients, arriving after an extra-long 244km seventh stage, is actually to his benefit.
"For my characteristics, it's even better that it's like this. I improve as the kilometres go by, and the fact that such a long climb comes after 5-6 hours of racing is definitely an advantage for me," he said.
It's not only Vingegaard that he and co-leader Hindley will have to tackle on Blockhaus, but his close friend and Italian compatriot Davide Piganzoli, who rides for Visma-Lease a Bike and looks set to play a vital role after leading out the Dane's aforementioned attack on stage 2.
Both are realising their potential in real time as former elite climbing prospects, having finished on the podium of the Tour de l'Avenir together in 2023, behind a certain Isaac del Toro – the runner-up from last year's Giro. All three are part of the large group of riders who live and train around the microstate of San Marino.
"I was super happy because [for Piganzoli], he did an amazing job. I did the same job last year for Primož Roglič, so I know what it feels like," said Pellizzari, who finished sixth overall after the Slovenian crashed out in the third week.
"Of course, those who finish on the podium in the Tour de l'Avenir in recent years are always good in pro races. Maybe we didn't expect that we would arrive at this high level already, but of course, we hope for this.
"I think Isaac [Del Toro] is still one step up in compare me and Davide, but I think we are all just happy that we are all together batting on the best three teams in the world."
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