'I’m going to burn all my race numbers' – Pellizzari is ready to put the 2026 Giro behind him

Giulio Pellizzari was one of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe's co-leaders going into the young Italian's third Giro d'Italia, with the white jersey a highly-realistic goal, but though the team can celebrate Jai Hindley's third overall, Pellizzari himself is ready to put the 2026 edition of his home Grand Tour far behind him. "I am proud to have arrived here in Rome, especially considering how I was doing these past few days," said Pellizzari, laughing through his relief. "Now I’m giving it all away. I don’t want to keep a single memory of this Giro. I’m going to burn all the race numbers and all the jerseys. After that, we’ll think about the next race.” It had all been going pretty well for Pellizzari until the end of the first long week. His fourth-place finish on Blockhaus after being the only one to follow Vingegaard launched him into the top five, but he then came down with a bug that plagued the remainder of his race. He clung on through the second week, but even after beginning to feel better, his body had had enough by the Dolomites and the 22-year-old dropped to 21st overall. "Joy, because it is over," Pellizzari said, answering the question, 'What do you feel now you're here?'. "An end has come to an ordeal, a real ordeal. I think the hardest part begins now: processing everything that has happened and coming to terms with it. But I am glad it is over. Now we start working on the next challenge.”