Under the sky of Novi Ligure, a land that immediately brings back memories of the exploits of Fausto Coppi and his brother Serse, the Giro d'Italia continues to be painted with the colors of Bahrain Victorious. Just a few kilometers before yesterday's finish stands Castellania, a small village in the Piedmont hills that gave birth to the two Coppi brothers and which still today represents one of the symbolic places of Italian cycling, just like Novi Ligure, today's finish town that saw the birth of Costante Girardengo and Giuseppe Cavanna.

In this atmosphere rich with history, Afonso Eulalio has retained the pink jersey at the end of a perfect day for his team, culminating in the success of his roommate Alec Segaert. A victory that brought a smile to the Portuguese rider's face, increasingly an unexpected protagonist of this Giro d'Italia.

During the press conference, Eulalio did not hide his satisfaction: "This is a perfect day, the victory is very important for the team, it had been three years without a win in a Grand Tour and moreover we continue to hold and strengthen the pink jersey, so it was truly a perfect day".

The general classification leader then described the atmosphere within Bahrain Victorious, capable of reinventing itself after the premature withdrawal of Santiago Buitrago: "I don't know what our secret is, we lost Buitrago practically on the second day, he was supposed to be our captain and instead day after day we recreated a new Giro d'Italia and we fight to do better and better. With Segaert I think there's a nice chemistry, we're a very young team, apart from Damiano Caruso, so we have a lot of fun, we tease each other a lot and with Alec too and he's my roommate, so maybe my pink jersey gave him some power too".

A quip that well describes the light atmosphere within the team. Eulalio and Segaert share a room and share the effort, even though there's very little time to truly enjoy the friendship during the Giro: "Alec and I are friends but during the Giro d'Italia we don't have much time to spend together because there are travels, then interviews and protocol and finally anti-doping. We arrive at the hotel tired and there are massages, we eat and sleep so we don't have time to do other things".

Also fundamental in the growth path of the young Portuguese rider is the presence of Damiano Caruso, the team's veteran, who was decisive at Novi Ligure as well: "Today when we approached the Red Bull kilometer, Damiano told me to go, I saw that no one was attacking and so I attacked. It was almost like getting an advantage for free. I took those seconds without anyone fighting back".

Precious seconds that allow Eulalio to retain the pink jersey, but the Portuguese rider remains crystal clear about the difficulties that await him. The Pila climb, in fact, could completely change the balance of the race, especially with a champion like Jonas Vingegaard ready to attack.

"It will be difficult to maintain this thirty-second advantage over Jonas Vingegaard when the next mountain finish arrives. He has already won the Tour de France and the Vuelta and he is really very strong".

Eulalio doesn't hide and seems almost to be preparing himself for the possible overtaking by the Dane on the Aosta Valley mountains. But in the meantime the Giro is enjoying the fairy tale of the young Portuguese rider in pink, capable of bringing enthusiasm to a team that seemed to have lost its leader after just two stages.

From Novi Ligure to Castellania, passing through Coppi's hills, cycling continues to live beautiful stories. And that of Afonso Eulalio, at least for another day, remains the most beautiful of the Giro.