Team Bahrain Victorious closed an unforgettable Giro d’Italia in Rome with Afonso Eulálio securing the Maglia Bianca and finishing sixth overall, bringing three weeks of racing to an emotional end for the team.
The final stage, a 131km circuit in the Italian capital, brought the peloton through Rome for the traditional closing day of the Corsa Rosa. After the celebration of the final jerseys, the race ended with a sprint finish, won by Jonathan Milan [Lidl-Trek] ahead of Giovanni Lonardi [Team Polti VisitMalta] and Paul Penhöet [Groupama-FDJ].
For Bahrain Victorious, Rome marked the end of a Giro filled with some of the team’s biggest moments in recent Grand Tours. Eulálio wore the Maglia Rosa for nine days, led the young rider classification from Stage 5 all the way to the final podium in Rome, and ended the race as winner of the Maglia Bianca. In his second Giro d’Italia, the Portuguese rider also finished sixth overall after defending the white jersey through the final mountain stages.
Eulálio said this after the stage:
“This Giro is something I will never forget. After such a hard final week, and especially after the stage yesterday, I was not feeling at my best and I was not always confident that it would be possible. But the whole team believed in me, even when I had doubts, and that gave me a lot of strength to keep fighting until the end.
Damiano was very important for me. I told him that if he felt better than me, he could ride his own race, but he said he would stay with me whatever happened. That gave me a lot of confidence in a very difficult moment.
To finish this Giro with the Maglia Bianca, after wearing the Maglia Rosa for so many days, and with both me and Damiano in the top ten overall, is something very special. We suffered a lot during these three weeks, but we arrived in Rome with something beautiful for the team.”
The team’s race had changed shape early in the Giro after losing Santiago Buitrago, who had started as Bahrain Victorious’ GC leader. From that moment, the team adapted around new opportunities and continued to race aggressively, with repeated most-combative prizes across the three weeks reflecting the way the riders stayed present in the race.
Franco Pellizotti added:
“It has been an amazing Giro for us. First of all, I want to say thank you to the riders and to all the staff for their commitment throughout this race. We started with different goals, but after Stage 2, when we lost Santiago, we had to change our objectives. In the end, we can be very happy and proud of the results we achieved and the way the riders kept fighting every day.
It was a difficult Giro, but I think it was one of the best Grand Tours we have had in the ten years of Bahrain Victorious, not only because of the results, but also because of the emotions we experienced. Afonso did an amazing Giro, spending many days in the Maglia Rosa and then winning the Maglia Bianca.
We also won a stage after three years without a Giro victory, and the team showed great spirit from start to finish.
I also want to say something special about Damiano. He is a special guy, and this was his last Giro d’Italia as a rider. He did an amazing race, always close to Afonso, and without Damiano this result would not have been possible. I am very happy that he could finish his final Giro with such strong results, and we are all very proud of him.”
The team also celebrated four important stage results across the race: Afonso Eulálio’s second place in Potenza on the day he took the Maglia Rosa, Alec Segaert’s victory in Novi Ligure, Damiano Caruso’s third place in Andalo, and Edoardo Zambanini’s second place in Pieve di Soligo. Together with Eulálio’s run in pink and his final white jersey, those results made this Giro one of the most significant Grand Tours in the team’s recent history.
For Caruso, the finish in Rome carried a deeper meaning. In his final Giro d’Italia, the Italian reached the capital with a top-10 finish overall, still playing an important role in the race and bringing experience, calm and leadership to a team fighting for one of the biggest results of the three weeks. It was a final appearance at his home Grand Tour that reflected the qualities that have defined so much of his career.
After the stage, Damiano Caruso concluded:
“I could never have imagined a more beautiful ending to my story with the Giro d’Italia. These have been three weeks full of intense emotions, from the first day all the way to the final stage here in Rome, and to experience it in this setting was truly something magical.
Receiving the most combative rider prize at the Giro d’Italia means a huge amount to me, even more so being awarded here in Rome, in such a special place, and being able to celebrate together with Afonso and his Maglia Bianca victory. If we also add Alec Segaert’s stage victory, I can say it has been a wonderful Giro for the whole team.
Honestly, it is difficult to find the right words to explain what I feel in this moment. I only want to thank the fans, the team, all the staff, and especially my teammates, because each of them gave me the energy to reach this moment and experience all of this.”
After three demanding weeks, Bahrain Victorious leave Rome with a Grand Tour that will be remembered not only for the results, but for the way they were achieved: through resilience, belief, and a collective effort that carried the team from the opening days to the final podium.
