You remember Giulio Pellizzari. That young Italian kid seemingly in every break during the last week of the Giro d’Italia. The one who almost won on Monte Pana only to be devastatingly but predictably overtaken by Tadej Pogačar with 1,200m of road remaining. “I thought, ‘What a jerk!” Pellizzari laughs. “But I quickly got over it.” He did. Within minutes he was caught on TV asking Pogačar for his pink sunglasses, only for his fanboying to be rewarded instead with the coveted glasses and a maglia rosa. Instant viral content and millions of views: tick. Now you definitely know who we’re talking about.

“The whole sunglasses thing with Pogačar made me even more famous than if I had actually won the stage,” the 20-year-old tells Rouleur. “The day before my brother, Gabriele, had told me he’d love to have Pogačar’s pink sunglasses. I didn’t know how to get them for him – I even checked the Scicon website but they weren’t for sale. Then I came second behind Tadej and I just wanted to shake his hand since he’s my idol. But when I saw him I suddenly remembered the sunglasses my brother had asked for. Without thinking twice I asked him if he’d give them to me and he also gave me his pink jersey! Amazing!”

This article was published in Rouleur in November 2024. You can read the full article here.