Afonso Eúlalio (Bahrain Victorious) acknowledged his grip on the Giro d’Italia lead is dwindling. He remained realistic about his chances after Sunday’s stage.
Eulálio’s Lead Cut After Corno delle Scale
Eulálio lost 41 seconds to Jonas Vingegaard. His GC advantage, which was over six minutes, has now shrunk to 2:24.
On the Corno delle Scale, Eulálio finished fifth, ahead of most GC favourites except Vingegaard, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos). He said getting to the rest day in pink felt like ‘Mission Accomplished’.
“It’s perfect, my Giro is done,” he said. “I’ve made it to the rest day in the maglia rosa. I don’t know what my limits are, but to finish in the top five is crazy for me.
“The last 50 kilometres of this stage was a long effort, so I tried to stay out of the wind and not fight for positions, keep as much as possible for later.
“Then the final three kilometres of the climb, they were steep, really steep, super-hard, so I saved what energy I could, then in the last part I went all in.”
Pink Jersey Boosts Eulálio
Eulálio recognised that just being in the pink jersey had improved his performance.
He said he was “a better rider” because of it.
“All my teammates believe in me, the staff, the team directors, that’s given me more power,” he said. “Normally I’m just a worker man, but this maglia is amazing.”
Time Trial Challenge Ahead
Eulálio promised to defend his lead in Tuesday’s time trial. He faces experienced GC contenders like Vingegaard.
When asked if his family would arrive in Italy, Eulálio answered, “when my family arrive, I won’t have the jersey with me”.
His time loss of 41 seconds to Jonas Vingegaard meant that his original GC advantage of over six minutes after Wednesday’s breakaway stage had now shrunk to just 2:24. Eulálio nonetheless continued to impress enormously with what he was achieving.
On Sunday, for example, on the Corno delle Scale, his fifth place was well ahead of almost all the GC favourites barring Vingegaard, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos). As he said afterwards, getting to the rest day in pink very much had the feel of ‘Mission Accomplished’.
While he promised that he would do his utmost to defend the lead in Tuesday’s time trial against the vastly, more experienced GC contenders like Vingegaard, Eulálio recognised that just being in the pink jersey had brought him up a level.
Being in the lead of a Grand Tour is a dream scenario for any rider.
Eulálio recognised that just being in the pink jersey had brought him up a level.