Vingegaard expects Eulálio to hold Giro lead beyond Blockhaus: 'He can keep it for a bit of time'

There is a strong sense of déjà vu at the Giro d’Italia, mirroring events from last August at the Vuelta a España. On stage 6 of the Vuelta, Bahrain Victorious climber Torstein Træen finished second on the stage won by Jay Vine from the breakaway and moved into the red jersey.

The Norwegian built a 2:33 advantage over pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard and held the race lead until the end of the first week, before Vingegaard took control on stage 10.

A similar scenario is playing out in Italy. Rising Portuguese climber Afonso Eulálio, who finished 9th at the World Championships in Rwanda last September, moved into the maglia rosa at the end of a chaotic stage 5 in Potenza.

Both Eulálio and Igor Arrieta crashed inside the final 15 km while at the head of the race. Although Arrieta outdueled him for the stage win, Eulálio still claimed the first Grand Tour leader’s jersey of his career.

With the first summit finish of the Giro on the Blockhaus on stage 7, and with Eulálio holding a more significant advantage of 6:22 over Vingegaard in 15th, the Danish star expects the Portuguese rider to hold onto the race lead for a while. 

This also spares Vingegaard repeated media duties and podium ceremonies, preserving valuable recovery time.

“For sure, now he’s [Eulálio] in the jersey with more than six minutes, so it's a good gap, yes," Vingegaard told CyclingProNet at the sign-on for stage 6. 

"I think he can keep it for a bit of time for sure, because even with tomorrow's Blockhaus stage, he's a good rider, so it's not like you're just gonna take six minutes out of him in one stage,” said Vingegaard. “So he will keep the jersey for a bit of time, that’s for sure.”

Stage 7's summit finish atop Blockhaus has been pencilled in as the first major stage for the GC contenders. 

Eddy Merckx was victorious on the climb's debut in 1967, and it has continued to shake up the GC in more recent appearances. In 2017, Nairo Quintana won the stage, while in 2022, Jai Hindley won a small-group sprint at the summit en route to winning his first Grand Tour. 

Vingegaard expects the impact of the climb to be no less important on Friday in shaping the GC picture. 

“I think the Blockhaus is a climb where you cannot hide. It will for sure be a stage where it will be a fight for the GC guys, and who knows, maybe we will fight for the stage win, that would also be nice, but yeah, it's not only up to us, also other teams as well,” said Vingegaard. 

Beforehand, Vingegaard, Eulálio and the peloton have to navigate stage 6 with a technical finale for the sprinters in Naples for the fifth consecutive edition.