History: Afonso Eulálio is leader of the Tour of Italy (but still needs to win a bet)

Young Portuguese cyclist fled early. End of the Giro stage marked by two falls and a mistake.

Rare scenario in all of history: a Portuguese cyclist leads the Tour of Italy on bicycle. AND Afonso Eulálio.

The 5th stage of the Giro, held this Wednesday, was 203 kilometers long between Praia a Mare and Potenza. And, in 180 of those kilometers, there was a leak with several cyclists, which included the young Portuguese.

But in the final part, Eulálio was left alone with Igor Arrieta a climb to Big Mountain of Viggiano. And there began the “novela”.

With 13 kilometers to go, the spanish fell on a curve (in a stage marked by a lot of rain, a lot of water on the road and some hail).

The Portuguese from Bahrain Victorious was alone at the front but, with 6 kilometers to go to the finish line, it was his turn to Afonso Eulálio fallsalso on a curve and also on a wet road.

There was still one more episode: 2 kilometers from the end, Arrieta was wrong on the route and fell behind. Afonso Eulálio continued alone until 300 meters from the finish line but his opponent still overtook him in the last meters.

Portuguese was in 2nd in stage but, benefiting from more than 7 minutes of advantage over the peloton, he started lead the general classification.

“In the end, if I had managed to arrive without falling it would have been better, but it was a super, super difficult day, with the climbs, the weather. At some moments, I felt like I wasn’t at my best, but I think everyone [os fugitivos] they felt the same and, in the end, I felt pretty good”, reacted a smiling Afonso at the end.

The young Portuguese is only the third Portuguese to wear the pink jersey in the Tour of Italy on a bicycle, after Acácio da Silva (1989) e João Almeida (2020).

There’s almost no 3 minutes advantage over today’s opponent, Igor Arrieta.

“I think I now have a interesting advantage. Let’s see what we can do in the next few days too”, analyzed the new Giro leader.

But Afonso Eulálio still wants more. Even because need to win a bet: “I really wanted to win the stage, because I have a bet with Damiano Caruso [colega de equipa] that if I win two stages, they will offer me another year on my contract. I didn’t win, but there are more opportunities.”