Italy's Pellizzari scorches to Vuelta stage 17 honours / Photo: Miguel RIOPA - AFP
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Italy's Pellizzari scorches to Vuelta stage 17 honours
Italy's Giulio Pellizzari celebrated "the best day of my career" when upstaging the big guns in Wednesday's Vuelta a Espana 17th stage as Jonas Vingegaard retained the leader's red jersey.
The 21-year-old crossed the Alto de El Morredero summit finish 16sec clear of Briton Tom Pidcock.
Pellizzari's Australian Red Bull Bora teammate Jai Hindley took third ahead of Vingegaard.
Danish race favourite Vingegaard goes into Thursday's time-trial with a 50sec cushion in the general classification over Joao Almeida, who finished the stage in fifth.
The leaders cancelled each other out on the scorched and wind-swept slopes of Alto de El Morredero after a gruelling 143.2km ride from El Barco de Valdeorras, with Pellizzari seizing his chance.
"Over the last three kilometres I said to myself 'the time has come to go'. This is the best day of my career" he said.
Vingegaard was thankful to survive the day still in red.
"I wasn't feeling 100 percent, but I did what was required," said the rider still feeling the exertions of chasing home Tadej Pogacar in the Tour de France in July.
Thursday's 18th stage is a 27.2km individual time-trial around Valladolid with the race finishing on Sunday in Madrid amid heightened security after disruption to one of cycling's big three races by pro-Palestinian protests.
R.Papakonstantinou--AN-GR
