Maglia Rosa Eulálio snatches bonus seconds at Red Bull KM: 'It's a little for free'

While his teammate motored to his first Grand Tour stage win, Afonso Eulálio finished 47th on the stage safely inside the peloton, ensuring he will wear pink for another stage, having moved into the race lead on stage 4. 

“I think it is extra motivation. We fight for the pink, and we also have other objectives. Today is perfect,” said Eulálio to reporters, including CyclingProNet. 

Beyond the stage victory for Segaert, it was a positive finale for the team as Eulálio extended his lead in the general classification at the Red Bull KM. 

The maglia rosa darted out of the peloton to contest the Red Bull KM inside the final 20km. Only Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) responded to the acceleration of Eulálio, but it was the race leader who won the Red Bull KM, scooping six more bonus seconds. 

With Vingegaard not contesting the sprint, the Portuguese rider extended his overall lead over the Dane to 33 seconds. 

When asked about gaining time on Vingegaard, Eulálio remained realistic, acknowledging that the real time differences will be made in the mountains. However, he was certainly not going to pass on the opportunity to gain some “free” seconds. 

“Look, for Jonas, I think it is not important when we arrive at the long mountains. 30 seconds is nothing,” said Eulálio. “But yeah, for the other riders, if they don’t want to fight for this, then I just did the sprint, and it’s a little for free.”

The prestige of wearing the maglia rosa hasn’t worn off for Eulálio, with every stage that he can wear the jersey being an honour. If those bonus seconds mean another day in pink, then he would’ve regretted not taking the opportunity. 

“Yeah, exactly. It's perfect. We keep the jersey, and the victory of Alec today is perfect. Perfect day,” said Eulálio. 

Loïc Segaert, older brother of stage winner Alec, is a Sports Director for the team and had glowing reviews for Eulálio.

“Afonso is a special guy. He was totally unexpected to lead this jersey so far this week, already in the second week, and he’s bringing the vibe to the whole team,” Loïc told TNT Sports. 

“He’s the young guy, the young, unexpected one, always joking, always laughing, and then you create this vibe, and everyone is ready to work for him.”