The fairy tale of Afonso Eulalio, the new pink jersey wearer of the Giro d'Italia, begins in mountain biking: "I was having fun riding MTB, I was happy. Now I'm racing in the WorldTour and I'm here at the Giro wearing the pink jersey, it's incredible. No, it's not a dream, it's something crazy".

The Portuguese rider is 24 years old, turned professional with Bahrain Victorious in 2025 and has brought the team the leadership of the Giro: he is the third Portuguese rider in the pink jersey after Acacio Da Silva for two stages in 1989 and Joao Almeida for 15 stages in 2020.

"I was in the standings 1' behind Ciccone and I went on the attack to win the stage. I crashed too, it was all chaotic, everything was super fast. I have to thank the mechanic who was exceptional and handed me the bike. These are moments when you don't think about the pain, you just want to keep pedaling to win and take the pink jersey. The finish was super slippery, full of curves in the last 20 kilometers. Me and Arrieta arrived exhausted, we fought on the bike, it wasn't a sprint".

The Bahrain team lost captain Buitrago in the crash on the second stage in Bulgaria, but didn't lose heart, and Eulalio today has golden words for Damiano Caruso: "He's my captain. Damiano is one of the best people on the team. I always follow him, I started learning everything from him. Before the Giro I did a training camp with him on Teide (in Tenerife, ed.), it was perfect and now I'm here at the Giro with him".

Eulalio also talks about his past: "I was racing in Portugal in mountain biking, when some teams asked me to try road cycling. I liked it and here I am in the World Tour. You ask me if I can defend the jersey? Uh, I have a lot of time in hand, but on Friday there's a very long stage and a climb (the Blockhaus, ed.) that's very tough. I don't know, we'll see. Then there's also a long time trial, maybe my girlfriend Marisa (Ferreira, ed.) could help me with that, she was also a cyclist and she was really very good in time trials, she was even national champion, but now she's retired".