Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have defended Giulio Pellizzari's decision to try and follow Jonas Vingegaard atop the Blockhaus at the Giro d'Italia, with DS Christian Pömer saying that if he had been ordered to simply ride his own tempo on stage 7, it could "have been a moment he would regret his entire life".
With a punchy day to Fermo ending without the GC fireworks that were perhaps expected over a Muri stage, Pellizzari now sits sixth overall, one spot behind teammate and co-leader Jai Hindley, ahead of the final stage of the first week, and the next mountaintop finish on stage 9 to Corno alle Scale.
If Blockhaus is anything to go by, Red Bull certainly won't be holding back the younger of their two leaders, who has been allowed the freedom to try and match pre-race favourite Vingegaard at this Giro, despite it ending in a 1:15 time loss to the Dane on Friday.
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"I think it's actually the characteristics of those two guys. I mean, Jai is a little bit older, and maybe also a bit wiser than Giulio," Pömer told Cyclingnews before stage 8, explaining how the team debriefed after Blockhaus.
"We just used the individual strength of both rider types, and in the end, we wanted to go a little bit more conservative with Giulio, but we came that far avoiding the attack of Vingegaard, that Giulio gave it a try.
"I think for a team it's also the right thing to do, to let a young rider still race as far as possible, as long as possible, on instinct. Of course, if he would stay conservative and ride his own pace, he would maybe have lost less time, but still, we, as a performance team of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe think that guys have to have the space to try themselves and to test themselves.
"I think if we would have stopped him, it would have been a moment he would regret his entire life, and, in the end, it ended pretty well for us. We now have both guys able to race for the podium, and we only have [Felix] Gall in between. For us, it was a good day."
Pömer caveated that surpassing Decathlon CMA CGM's Felix Gall would be no easy feat in the coming weeks and days, especially after the uphill showing he put out to finish second on Blockhaus, 13 seconds behind Vingegaard. He has a lead of just under a minute over Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), now in fourth after stage 8, and Red Bull's leaders.
"It's not a surprise when you saw how [Gall] climbed in Catalonia to La Molina, and what he's already shown in his career," said Pömer.
"I mean, he's also a former junior world champion, so he's a real bike racer, and respect; it was a fantastic performance by him, and I'm afraid he will give us some headache."
While Gall was superior on the uphill Abruzzese roads on Friday, he has a major disadvantage compared to Vingegaard and the Red Bull leaders when it comes to time trialling, but also descending, so don't be surprised if Hindley and Pellizzari try to exploit either.
Pömer and his riders have continued to say how the overall podium in Rome is the team's goal, and the Austrian is the main man threatening to stand in their way. Co-leadership does give them more options over the undulating stages, and former Giro champion Hindley has a great reputation for growing into a three-week race.
Never underestimate Hindley
Pellizzari got a lot of the hype pre-race, and rightly after he won the Tour of the Alps overall, but it really does remain a 50-50 partnership in the Red Bull pecking order. Hindley even showed that again with a sprint effort on stage 8 that ultimately came to nothing, but proved he is operating close to his very best.
"I don't know what other people think about him. I know that we never underestimated Jai, and I got a lot of questions: 'When will Jai move from the co-leader role?' or 'Will he be the second leader?' and I always said that this will not happen," said Pömer in Chieti.
"We have really two cards to play, and Jai proved that he still has it, and when I say still, I mean, he's 29 years old, so he's also not an old rider. [Co-leadership] just gives us more tactical options that you always have two cards to play for whatever situation, and yes, on stage 7 it did not work, but maybe it will work another day."
While separated by the first real rest day in Tuscany, the next two stages will be vital in the fight for the overall podium. Sunday's summit finish is another in favour of Gall and obviously Vingegaard, but the 42km time trial from Viareggio to Massa is arguably even more vital to how the podium fight will look, and Red Bull have clearly been working hard with their two leaders.
"A long ITT like this, especially if it's pan flat, is a really big thing in the next week, but I also think that we have a very high level of preparation for this special discipline," said Pömer. "I'll word it carefully: it will not be a disadvantage for us, I think.
"Tomorrow is one of the longest mountaintop finishes of this year's Giro. It's also a very interesting one, because after two hard days, especially with the weather conditions, on a flat stage with a mountaintop finish, surprises can also happen. Some guys might just miss the legs, so we're quite excited to find out who it will be."
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