Why did Pogacar give his jersey to Pellizzari, why did he go for the stage win, and why the short sleeves?

Why did Pogacar give his jersey to Pellizzari, why did he go for the stage win, and why the short sleeves?

Tadej Pogacar is in control of this Giro and, and although he had already placed minutes between himself and his competitors on Sunday, his dominance was perhaps even more apparent on day sixteen. UAE-Team Emirates kept a low profile during the shortened mountain stage, but had no choice but to let Pogacar ride up at a leisurely pace after Movistar had kept the group together. Pogacar seemed to do everything possible not to win, but he won anyway – and at a leisurely pace (at least by his standards). Giulio Pellizzari received a kind of apology after the finish.

"We didn't want to go for the stage win at all, but when other teams picked up the pace, we said: why not? On the last climb, we started to accelerate, and with Tadej behind me, it was a done deal," Rafal Majka summarized the race to Eurosport. "Tadej asked if I didn't want to go for the stage victory, but I had already been leading for a wile and was tired. So I told him to go. Hats off to him, even though we didn't even want to win."

Pogacar confirmed his climbing domestique's story in the flash interview. "When we started racing, it was fine. It was a good breakaway for us, so we were quite relaxed in the peloton. However, Movistar kept pushing and kept it tight. In the last two kilometers, we took control, but Rafal was done and wanted to make something happen. I really thought Pellizzari would win the stage, but I'm glad he still came in second."

Continue reading under the video.

Pogacar gives Pellizzari his shirt as consolation prize

Immediately after the finish, Pogacar and Pellizzari met in the tent and shared a heartfelt hug. As a kind of apology and consolation, the pink jersey wearer took off his jersey and gave it to the young Italian from Bardiani. "You're the best," we heard Pellizzari shout. He even shed a few tears later. Shortly after, Pogacar addressed the moment: "I've already been admired him in this Giro. He sent my manager a photo from Strade Bianche 2019, when he was a young kid and came to watch as a fan. Now he's here. He's strong, and maybe he can win a stage this week. Italy should be proud to have talents like him."

In the mixed zone and at the press conference, Pogacar naturally also discussed his unusual stage victory. "I only attacked one and a half kilometers from the finish and wanted to stay warm. Rafal decided we should go for the stage win," he emphasized. UAE-Team Emirates and team leader Tadej want to bring the pink jersey to Rome without expending too much energy when it's not necessary. "Let's see how we handle the rest of the week. If teams like Movistar can help us like this, that's great. The team must first survive well, then me. I don't have to go so deep anymore unless I get dropped. I don't need to go beyond the limit and have to recover well in this last week."

Continue reading under the video.

Pogacar wants to plan everything, but that's not always possible

With a seven-minute lead, Pogacar is in an ideal situation. At the press conference, he also laughingly confessed that he doesn't handle scenarios like that of day sixteen very well as a person. "I have this disease from my girlfriend. I want to plan everything. It's something I have taken over from her, everything must be perfectly planned. In cycling, that's just impossible, and today was a good example of that. We still won, so it's nice that we didn't have to work too hard for it."

The major chaos before the start was obviously not planned either. Due to snow and cold, the riders were eventually moved to a different starting location, skipping the Passo Umbrail. "In the end, it was a good day for everyone. Nobody wanted to start, but we found a solution. It was unfortunate for the organization, but it would have been the same if we, as riders, had had to go over that first climb. Ultimately, we must think about the safety of everyone," said Pogacar, who stood out even more in the finale as he was wearing short sleeves. "That was because of Movistar. On the penultimate climb, I took off my jacket because we were going quite hard. But I got cold on the descent. Fortunately, I can handle it well!"