Eulálio and Vingegaard: the revelation and the champion

On Sunday, no one was truly surprised to see Jonas Vingegaard raise his arms and celebrate the 50th victory of his professional career. Felix Gall continues to put him under pressure, but the first major mountain tests have revealed a clear superiority from the Dane, who claimed victory both on Blockhaus (Stage 7) and Corno alle Scale (Stage 9), the first major climbs of this Giro.
“We are exactly where we wanted to be,” he smiled at the summit of the Emilian climb.

A few minutes later, Afonso Eulálio also arrived in front of the microphones. The same smile, but very different expectations. “The whole team believed in me, and that gave me even more strength,” explained the Portuguese rider after a performance that went far beyond simply defending the Maglia Rosa. On gradients reaching 15%, the Bahrain Victorious rider finished fifth on the stage, the second-best result of his Grand Tour career, after his runner-up finish in Potenza behind Igor Arrieta.

Ten days earlier, in Bulgaria, Vingegaard and Eulálio had arrived at the Grande Partenza with completely different roles. Yet after a week of racing, they are the two men at the centre of attention, with Tuesday’s time trial between Viareggio and Massa looming: 42 kilometres that could reshape the face of the race.

Vingegaard gets everything right

For the Dane, the Massa time trial represents another opportunity to extend his advantage over the other GC contenders. But it will also be something new: Vingegaard has never tackled such a long individual time trial.
The closest comparison remains the 2022 Tour de France, when he laid the foundations for his first overall victory by finishing second in a 40.7 km time trial, just 18 seconds behind Wout van Aert. A statistic that only tells part of the story: the Dane actually eased off in the closing kilometres to allow his Belgian teammate to take the stage win.

Will he dominate again on Tuesday? So far, in his first Giro d’Italia, Vingegaard has answered every call. He was the first of the favourites to attack, already in the finale of Stage 2. He has avoided every trap of the opening week and, when the mountains arrived, he made his superiority count.

The two-time Tour de France winner (2022 and 2023), who also triumphed at last year’s Vuelta a España, has already taken control of the general classification without ever seeming to need to force the issue. In doing so, he also became the 115th rider in history to win at least one stage in all three Grand Tours.

At Blockhaus, he wrote a symbolic chapter by following in the footsteps of Eddy Merckx: both riders claimed their first Giro d’Italia stage victory on the same climb. And that’s not all — the Dane also set the fastest ascent ever recorded on Blockhaus, covering the 13.6 km climb in just 38’22”.

At Corno alle Scale, he initially looked more cautious, but when Gall began to pose a real threat again, he changed pace and delivered another record: 24’32” for the final 10.8 km climb.

Eulálio, the surprise that keeps on surprising

Behind Vingegaard on Corno alle Scale came Gall at 12 seconds, Davide Piganzoli at 33, Thymen Arensman at 34… and Eulálio at 36 seconds, after a stunning finale that earned him a fifth day in the Maglia Rosa and further fuelled Portugal’s growing passion for the Giro.
Before him, only Acácio da Silva — who spent two days in pink in 1989 — and João Almeida, who wore the jersey for fifteen days in 2020, had managed to lead the Giro d’Italia general classification for Portugal.

In some ways, Eulálio is even more experienced than Vingegaard at the Corsa Rosa: he had already taken part in the Giro in 2025. That, however, remains his only Grand Tour experience to date. Last year, he showed flashes of his talent by making the breakaway to Bormio and finishing tenth on Stage 17, before eventually succumbing to fatigue and abandoning the race on the way to Champoluc.
Talent was already there. What was still missing was endurance

Eulálio is more of an explosive rider than a pure climber. He had already shown that in Potenza — the stage that opened the doors to the Maglia Rosa — and again in the finale at Fermo, where he attacked with real conviction. Long climbs seemed likely to be his weakness, yet the Portuguese rider has shown both endurance and quality, just as he had hinted with his ninth-place finish at the demanding World Championships in Kigali, one of the toughest courses in recent years. Now, he is passing the Giro’s toughest test as well.

The time trial as a turning point?

Even Eulálio himself did not expect to come this far. He thought he would lose the Maglia Rosa already on Blockhaus or Corno alle Scale. Instead, he will roll out on Tuesday still wearing the leader’s jersey.
The advantage is significant: 2’24” over Vingegaard, 2’59” over Gall, and 4’32” over Jai Hindley. But the Portuguese rider is under no illusions.
“It’s not enough,” he admits. He fully expects to lose “minutes” over the 42 km time trial.

The reasons for his concerns are understandable. Unlike Vingegaard, who has been meticulously honing his time-trial skills for years, Eulálio has little to show for his efforts in this discipline. Last year, he finished 150th in the Pisa time trial, 4 minutes and 36 seconds behind the winner, Daan Hoole, over a shorter distance of 28.6 km.
On that day, he had nothing to defend. Today, however, he is wearing the Maglia Rosa.

It might not be enough to hold off Vingegaard, who looks the clear favourite to take the lead in the general classification. The Dane arrived at the Giro with a clear objective: to win it.
For Eulálio, however, the last few days have opened up new – and perhaps unexpected – prospects.