Eulálio Keeps Maglia Bianca After Dolomites Test
# Eulálio Preserves Maglia Bianca Amidst Grueling Dolomites Challenge
Afonso Eulálio successfully retained the Maglia Bianca following the intense Stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, navigating one of the most challenging mountain challenges with just two stages left in the race. The 151km journey from Feltre to Alleghe delved deep into the Dolomites, featuring nearly 5,000 meters of climbing. This relentless trek included formidable passes such as Passo Duran, Coi, Forcella Staulanza, Passo Giau, Passo Falzarego, and concluded with the steep ascent to Piani di Pezzè above Alleghe.
With a primary focus on Eulálio’s performance to defend his young rider standing, the Portuguese athlete faced a tough day as the general classification (GC) pack thinned significantly during the grueling final climbs. Nevertheless, he crossed the finish line safely, maintaining his stranglehold on the white jersey.
Currently, Eulálio holds the sixth position overall and retains the Maglia Bianca lead by 1:03 ahead of the final mountain stage and the concluding leg in Rome on Sunday.
Damiano Caruso also showcased his stamina, joining the breakaway and finishing seventh in the stage, just 1:06 behind the victor. Caruso remains ninth overall after another commendable performance in the high-altitude narrative of the race.
The stage itself saw Sepp Kuss of Team Visma – Lease a Bike seizing the victory with a strategic late attack, followed closely by Derek Gee-West and Giulio Ciccone, both from Lidl-Trek. In the backdrop, Jonas Vingegaard, also of Team Visma, held onto the Maglia Rosa after a taxing day in the mountains.
Reflecting on the challenging day, Eulálio stated, “It was a super hard stage today, with long climbs all day. I had to suffer a lot, especially in the final, but this is the Giro and these are the days where you need to keep fighting. Damiano did a super job in the breakaway, and the team stayed with me and supported me as much as possible. In the end, we kept the white jersey for one more day, and that is the most important thing. Tomorrow is another hard stage, and we know it will be one more important day. The last five kilometres today felt very long, but we are still here, still in white, and we will keep fighting until the end.”
Team Bahrain Victorious’ Franco Pellizotti noted, “Stage 19 was the queen stage of this Giro d’Italia, and in the end we came through it pretty well. Damiano was in the breakaway and we tried with him to go for the stage while with Afonso the goal was to defend his GC position and the Maglia Bianca. It was a hard stage from the start, especially because some GC riders were already in the breakaway, and from the first KOM climb, the race was fast and difficult to control. In the end, we survived. We lost one position on GC with Afonso and some time in the white jersey classification, but we are still in the game. Tomorrow is the last important stage, with Piancavallo twice, and it will be the final day to fight. We need to keep going until the end because we are close — very close to Rome — and close to achieving a great result.”
The Giro d’Italia proceeds to Stage 20 from Gemona del Friuli to Piancavallo, serving as the last mountain confrontation before the race finale in Rome.
