photo credits @ La Vuelta
Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) took his first ever professional win in style after soloing clear of a select group of general classification favorites on the windswept Alto del Morredero in Stage 17.
Pellizzari finished 16 seconds clear of a battling Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and his Australian team-mate Jai Hindley after Red Bull used their numerical advantage on one of the toughest finishes of this year’s race.
Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) got the better of Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) to finish in fourth, two seconds clear of his Portuguese rival.
Vingegaard, the double Tour de France champion, extended his lead over the tired-looking Almeida to 50 seconds on the eve of the decisive individual time trial in Valladolid.
Pidcock’s second place saw the British rider strengthen his grip on the final spot on the virtual podium while edging 10 seconds closer to the race summit.
But the day belonged to Pellizzari, who edged closer to team-mate Hindley’s fourth place in the standings while extending his lead over the American Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) in the white jersey youth classification.
It was a first ever pro win for the 21-year-old Italian, who burst onto the scene in last year’s Giro d’Italia when he narrowly missed out on a maiden stage victory to the relentless Tadej Pogacar.
Taking advantage of a stalemate between red jersey favourites Vingegaard and Almeida, Pellizzari launched his decisive attack with 3.5 kilometers remaining after a series of accelerations from his team-mate Hindley, the 2022 Giro winner.
With Vingegaard and Almeida easing up and at one point deep in conversation, Pellizzari pushed on to take a memorable win on an eerily exposed mountain blackened and scorched by recent forest fires. It was his Red Bull team’s first of the 80th edition of La Vuelta.
Earlier, breakaway group containing Brandon Rivera (Ineos), Madis Mihkels (EF Education EasyPost), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Patrick Gamper (Jayco Alula), Léandre Lozouet (Arkea B&B Hotels), Sergio Samitier (Cofidis), Luca Van Boven (Intermarché – Wanty), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL), Timo Roosen (Picnic PostNL), Jonas Gregaard (Lotto) succeeded in escaping the peloton during the first few kilometers.
However, the group’s chances of remaining clear remained slim as Visma – Lease a Bike worked hard at the front of the peloton with the Dutch duo of Wilco Kelderman and Dylan van Baarle dictating the tempo to keep the breakaway on a tight leash.
With not from form there heels, Tiberi decided to attack his fellow escapees before the final climb, with only Tejada able to mark his move.
From there, the duo opened up an advantage of just over a minute they headed into the last 20 kilometers.
However, during the run-in to the final climb, gap to the two leaders was greatly slashed as the peloton navigated narrow and tricky rural roads approaching the Alto de El Morredero.
Tiberi and Tejada were later joined by Samitier, Leemreize and Gregaard, but their chances at breakaway became nil as the quintet was ultimately reined in along the day’s final ascent.
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