Giulio Pellizzari wins his first-ever race on Vuelta a España Stage 17, grants first win for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe AURORATOTO GROUP

Giulio Pellizzari impressively won Stage 17 of this year’s Vuelta a España with a solo breakaway finish. This victory marks the 21-year-old’s first stage win in the race, and also the first major win of his professional career. 

The young athlete finished 16 seconds ahead of the other riders, with Tom Pidcock and Jai Hindley close behind. The overall race leader, Jonas Vingegaard, finished shortly after and still maintained his lead in the general classification. 

Highlights of the race

The 17th stage of this season’s Vuelta a España was a challenging 143.2 km race in northwest Spain. The route tackles hills and mountains, which makes it even tougher for the athletes to overcome. 

Earlier in the race, a group of eight riders broke away, including Antonio Tiberi and Harold Tejada. The leading group tried to keep their distance, but never got more than two minutes ahead. Eventually, Tiberi and Tejada were caught up by the main group after 11 km. 

At the final climb, teams Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike were dedicated to controlling the race. The steep climb placed several riders at the front—Vingegaard, Almeida, Pidcock, Hindley, Pellizzari, and Riccitello.

With this, Hindley tried to break away, but Pidcock kept up with him. Soon enough, Pellizzari broke away with 3.5 km to go and managed to hold on to secure his first stage.

On social media, Pellizzari expressed: “We did it, simply thank you, I love you 🇮🇹❤️” 

 “I always knew there would be a super win. Well done, Giulio, you deserve all the best💪💪💪 (translated)”, one netizen remarked. 

Another stated: “You wanted it and you got it… What a pride, what a joy! (translated)”.

Here are the winners and their rankings after the Stage 17 race:

1. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in 3:37:00
2. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) +16s
3. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hangrohe) +18s
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +20s
5. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +22s
6. Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) +26s
7. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +53s
8. Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) at same time
9. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) +58s
10. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1:44

Here is the general classification list after the Stage 17 race: 

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in 64:54:55
2. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +50s
3. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) +2:28
4. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) +3:04
5. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3:51
6. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +4:57
7. Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) +4:59
8. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) +6:24
9. Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) +7:06
10. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +10:16