Ninth day in the pink jersey for Afonso Eulalio, from Potenza to Verbania, from Basilicata to the Swiss border. And the Portuguese rider will close out the Giro with a small record nonetheless: no one, not even Vingegaard if he were to take the pink jersey tomorrow at Pila, could surpass him in total number of leader's jerseys at the Giro 109 (the Dane would reach a maximum of 8).

A fine result for Eulalio, 24 years old, and his Bahrain Victorious. It did not go unnoticed, for example, the gesture he made at the finish in Verbania: he let Damiano Caruso cross the line first, the person who has been closest to him these past months, an indispensable guide. "By now in my country I've become a celebrity – Eulalio explains with a smile -. My journey at the Giro is becoming ever more wonderful, these nine days have changed my life, they have been nine incredible days, I've experienced crazy things. And my team, my teammates have been 100% with me. I don't know what to say about the squad, every day they've always done perfect work, they believed in me. Tomorrow? Let's see what happens, there's a long climb right at the start and another long one at the finish, I'll do everything I can, I'll fight, and then at the finish we'll see".

Not to mention that Eulalio races on Bianchi bicycles, those of Coppi, Gimondi and Pantani.

Franco Pellizotti is directing him with mastery from the Bahrain Victorious team car: "Today too we managed the stage well, but still they did almost 49 kilometers per hour average and the guys had to pedal hard. Tomorrow we'll try to do everything we can, we know it will be a difficult stage for us. We've already achieved so much, so many days in pink, tomorrow I think it's time for whoever wants to win this Giro to do something too. I repeat, our Giro is already won. We live day by day and we want to see how far this kid can go. Every day Eulalio sleeps well, so let's say he handles the pressure well and we'll see, come on, he knows too that it will be a difficult day, but it will be difficult for everyone".