Alec Segaert secured Team Bahrain Victorious’ first stage victory at this year’s Giro d’Italia, taking the win in Novi Ligure with a late attack with 2km to go, while Afonso Eulalio kept both the Maglia Rosa and the Maglia Bianca.

The 175km stage from Imperia to Novi Ligure took the race away from the Ligurian coast and into Piemonte, with Colle Giovo and Bric Berton bringing the main climbs of the day before the road flattened towards the finish. It was a stage that looked open for a reduced sprint, but the final still left space for a rider ready to take the right moment.

Segaert made that moment count. The Belgian attacked inside the final kilometres and opened a gap as the group behind hesitated. From there, he committed fully to the line, using his time trial strength to hold off the chase and take his first Giro d’Italia stage victory.

It was a win that carried the mark of a rider who has already shown this quality this season. Earlier in the year, Segaert won the Grand Prix de Denain with another late move after a hard race, and in Novi Ligure he used the same instinct again: good timing, power, and the ability to keep going when the chase was coming from behind.

Toon Aerts (Lotto Intermarché) finished second, three seconds behind, with Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana Team) completing the podium.

After the race, Alec Segaert said:

“It’s crazy. I always try to make plans before every stage, looking at where there could be possibilities, and today I had that chance from the team. When things go to plan and you get rewarded with such a big win, that is what cycling is about.

The Giro is a special race for me, and I really wanted to win a stage here. I was not fully happy with my time trial, but in cycling it is also about emotions. Sometimes you get pushed to the ground and you need to bounce back as hard as you can. It is not the first time I have had to do that, and this kind of reward is what you do it all for.

I think I still need some time to realise what happened. I just opened my phone and saw all the messages, and standing here with the medal also makes me understand that I did something big. Of course, I will remember this for a long time.

Last night I was rooming with Afonso, and I even joked with my girlfriend that I had a pink roommate. She told me maybe that would give me energy for the next day, and it looks like it worked.”

Behind the fight for the stage, Eulalio finished safely with the support of his teammates and kept both the Maglia Rosa and the Maglia Bianca. The Portuguese rider also extended his race lead by winning the Red Bull KM and taking six bonus seconds, adding another small but important gain in the general classification. He now leads the general classification ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma – Lease a Bike) by 33 seconds, as the team continues the strikes of pink in this Giro d’Italia.

Afonso Eulalio:

“Today was a perfect day. We kept the jersey and we won the stage with Alec, which is amazing. The Maglia Rosa gives us strong power, and maybe it also gave something to Alec because yesterday was the first time we were roommates, and today he won the stage.

For the team, after three years without a victory in a Grand Tour, to win here with Alec and still have the jersey is perfect. We are doing a super good Giro.

The first part of the stage was quite easy, but then the attacks started and the pace was high on the climbs. In the final, I also had the bonus seconds in front of me, and because the other riders did not fight for them, I could take six seconds almost for free. So in the end, it was a very good day for me, for Alec, and for the whole team.”

Franco Pellizotti:

“It was something we planned this morning. We looked at the final carefully and knew there could be an opportunity. In the end, we were also a bit lucky, because the other teams worked very hard on the climbs and that made the group smaller. Some of the sprinters were still there, but after that effort it was difficult for them to close the gap when Alec attacked close to the finish. He chose the right moment, went full gas, and it became very hard to bring him back. It was an amazing day for the team: a stage victory with Alec and another day in pink with Afonso.”