‘Jonas is Jonas’ - Eulálio concedes pink after battling through Pila summit finish

The Portuguese rider had carried pink since stage 5, emerging as one of the standout stories of the opening two weeks. On Saturday, however, the first true high mountain test of the race finally tilted the balance towards Vingegaard, who took his third stage win of the Giro and moved into the overall lead.

Eulálio now sits second on GC, 2:26 behind the Visma | Lease a Bike leader, with Felix Gall third at 2:50 ahead of Sunday’s stage 15 to Milan.

Asked after the finish whether he had expected to lose the jersey, Eulálio was direct.

“No, no, we were expecting this,” he said. “Jonas is Jonas. Yesterday I already told him he would win this stage. I just keep fighting to the finish line and that’s it.”

Eulálio was distanced on the final climb to Pila as Visma increased the pressure through Victor Campenaerts, Sepp Kuss and, most decisively, Davide Piganzoli. By the time Vingegaard attacked with 4.5km remaining, the race leader was already fighting his own battle behind.

The 24-year-old eventually limited his losses well enough to remain second overall, despite finishing around two minutes down on the stage winner.

“It was quite hard. I dropped early,” Eulálio said. “But my teammates believe in me, today, last week, the last 10 days. I just need to keep fighting to the finish line to give something to my team.”

For Eulálio, the damage was significant but not disastrous. The long climbs of stage 14 were never likely to be ideal terrain for a rider who has repeatedly made clear that the Giro’s extended ascents are not his natural strength.

“I don’t know 100 per cent what I did, but it’s not the best,” he said of his ride. “For me it’s quite OK. I don’t like so much long climbs. I just keep fighting to the final.”

That fight has already taken him much further than expected. Bahrain Victorious began the race with Santiago Buitrago as their main GC card, but his early abandon forced the team into a different approach. 

Eulálio responded by becoming one of the revelations of the race, spending eight days in the maglia rosa and reaching the final week still firmly placed on the overall podium.

The challenge now becomes whether he can defend that position through the hardest part of the Giro. After Sunday’s stage to Milan, the race heads into a demanding final week, with summit finishes at Carì, Piani di Pezzè and Piancavallo still to come.

Eulálio’s most immediate reward is the maglia bianca. With Vingegaard now in pink, the Portuguese rider will return to the white jersey as the best young rider, a classification Giulio Pellizzari had been wearing on his behalf during Eulálio’s spell in the race lead.

“I will try to fight for this, also for the top 10,” Eulálio said. “And fight with good legs.”

His pink jersey run may be over, but Eulálio’s Giro is far from finished. On Pila, he lost the lead to the strongest rider in the race, but there is still plenty left for him to ride for.