With a surprise attack under the flamme rouge, Giulio Pellizzari caught the rest of the breakaway off guard, claimed his sixth victory of the season and gave Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe a highly successful start to the Italian autumn Classics.
Over 190 kilometres around Pontedera near Pisa, the 8.5-kilometre-long Monte Serra, with its average gradient of seven per cent, once again proved to be the major obstacle of the day. The climb had to be tackled twice. On the second ascent, after several attacks, the decisive group formed shortly before the summit, around 30 kilometres from the finish. Giulio was part of the group, alongside nine other riders.
Less than 30 seconds behind, a second group had formed around Jai Hindley. Florian Lipowitz, Daniel Felipe Martínez, Haimar Etxeberria, Adrien Boichis and Lorenzo Finn had previously done their part to control the race. The gap came down on the descent and across the flat finale, but the chasers were unable to make the catch, even though for a while it looked as if they might.
Giulio had stayed in the wheels for a long time in the leading group, but he did not want to leave the outcome to a sprint against the likes of Christian Scaroni, who is particularly fast in a finish. With a surprise attack as he entered the final 1,000 metres, he opened up a gap that his companions were unable to close.
“I hadn’t planned anything; the situation just unfolded that way. My numbers on the climb weren’t particularly good, but I knew the race would be decided in the finale. I then tried to save as much energy as possible so that I could give everything on the final kilometre. It worked out well.”
— Giulio Pellizzari
“We came here with a strong team, which also meant we had to take responsibility for controlling the race. Between the two climbs, we briefly lost momentum when a group went up the road without us. Florian did a great job of closing the gap, though. At the top of the final climb, the group with Giulio formed, but the chasing group with Jai was never far behind.
On the final kilometres, the gap really did become very small. The only thing I told Giulio was to pay attention to the roundabout and the final corner. In the end, it was another good shot of adrenaline with him, just like at the Deutschland Tour. It’s a great victory.”
— Cesare Benedetti, Sports Director
