Afonso Eulálio retained the Maglia Rosa after Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia, completing the first major mountain test of this year’s race on the summit finish at Blockhaus.
The 244km stage from Formia to Blockhaus was the longest stage of the Giro and one of the hardest tests of the opening week. The route began along the coast of southern Lazio, passing through Sperlonga and Gaeta, before returning through Formia and heading inland towards Abruzzo. The final part of the stage included Roccaraso and Passo di San Leonardo before the summit finish on Blockhaus, one of the Giro’s most iconic climbs, with the final ascent measuring around 13km at an average of 8.4%.
After retaining the leader’s jersey in Napoli, Eulálio started his second day in the Maglia Rosa facing a very different challenge. The team stayed focused on supporting him through a long and demanding stage, with the main objective of defending the jersey on the first major mountain finish of the race.
A small breakaway spent most of the day at the front, building an advantage during the opening part of the stage before the gap began to come down as the race moved towards the main climbs. The team kept Eulálio protected through the early kilometres and into the final part of the stage, before the GC riders began to come forward ahead of the ascent to Blockhaus.
On the final climb, Team Visma – Lease a Bike increased the pressure, reducing the GC group before Jonas Vingegaard attacked with around 5.5km remaining. Eulálio rode at his own rhythm in the final kilometres, limiting his losses and finishing 15th on the stage, 2:55 behind the winner, to retain the Maglia Rosa.
Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) won the stage, with Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) finishing second at 13 seconds and Jai Hindley (Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe) completing the podium at 1:02.
Eulálio also retained the lead in the young rider classification and remains first overall, now leading the general classification by 3:17 over Vingegaard.
After the stage, Eulálio said:
“It was a really long stage, with a very hard and steep final climb, and a lot of wind. The team did a perfect job throughout the day, for almost 250 kilometres, and it was also important to have Damiano with me in the final. In the end, we survived and kept the Maglia Rosa, which was our objective for the day.
In the end, I think all the teams and all the riders know that Jonas is one of the favourites to win the Giro and that he can take the pink jersey, but we have to keep fighting and try to stay in the jersey until the rest day.”
Sports Director Franco Pellizotti added:
“In the end, it was a hard stage, but there was no big breakaway and the team managed the race well. Maybe at some points during the stage we were a little too excited when we were pulling at the front, but that also shows the team was happy to be in this position.
Afonso did a great climb. Maybe he went a little too deep and then dropped when he was already red. If he had followed his own pace a bit earlier, maybe the gap could have been smaller, but in the end we are happy. He is still new to this type of race and to riding with the leader’s jersey, and I believe he understood a lot for the next days.
I think we did a great race, and Afonso also did a good climb. We lost around three minutes to Vingegaard and a bit less to the other two riders on the podium, but compared to some of the other GC contenders, like Ciccone, Arensman and others, he did well. He also finished ahead of riders like Mas and Van Eetvelt. In the end, we are happy.”
The Giro d’Italia will continue tomorrow on the Adriatic coast with Stage 8 from Chieti to Fermo, another demanding stage after the first summit finish of the race.
