"I’m not ready yet to fight with the leaders" - Afonso Eulálio drops out of the Giro d’Italia podium battle

Afonso Eulálio endured a day of damage limitation on the final ascent to Carì. The Portuguese rider finished 11th on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia 2026 and slipped from second to fifth overall, with five stages remaining.

Despite the setback, the young rider radiated calm at the finish and made it clear he remains satisfied with his performance in a race where, he admits, he is still learning to handle the demands of the very best.

"The stage was very fast," Eulálio summed up moments after finishing, speaking to Cycling Pro Net. He explained that the pace at the start of the decisive climb was too high for how he was feeling and so, defending his podium place in the general classification became an unrealistic goal.

"When we hit this climb, we went out really hard. I felt it wasn’t my pace," he admitted. From there, he tried to meter his efforts to limit the losses and keep his ambitions alive in the young riders’ classification. "I tried to control as much as I could and hold my effort as much as I could as well to keep the white jersey."

Although he lost ground overall, Eulálio does not view the situation as negative. He remains fully committed to the fight for young riders' jersey, where he'll face Visma's revelation Davide Piganzoli and maybe Tudor's Mathys Rondel, and stressed that plenty is still up for grabs in the Giro’s final week.

"For the GC I don’t think it’s that bad, and for the white as well," he said. He also weighed up the situation of his closest rivals and noted that much can still change in the remaining stages. "I saw that Pellizzari didn’t do so well, but there are five days to go as well. Who knows... if a break goes, and if he has a really strong day..."

Among the names that concern him most is Davide Piganzoli, whom he did not hesitate to praise for his form. "I’ve also got Piganzoli now and he’s going very, very well. Even after he's done working for his team, he’s still very, very strong," he said.

Beyond the classifications, Eulálio’s comments mixed ambition with realism. He insisted he feels good physically, while acknowledging there is still a gap between him and the riders battling for the Giro’s top places.

"I’m good. The problem is I don’t think I’m ready to be fighting up there with the guys at the front," he said candidly. For Eulálio, the level shown by the podium contenders has been extremely high. "The guys fighting for the podium are very strong. I don’t think I’m ready yet to be fighting there, maybe one day."

Even so, he did not close the door on making that goal a reality in the future. The Portuguese rider highlighted the work he is doing with his team and hinted that this Giro could be just another step in his progression. "I’ve worked a lot, me and the team. The team believes and I do too, we’re working very well and who knows what the future holds."

Eulálio also outlined his plans once the Giro ends. After this Grand Tour experience, he explained that he intends to focus the second part of the season on terrain where he feels especially comfortable.

"Now in the second part of the year I think I’m going to focus a bit more on the classics, which I like," he said. And while he avoids setting long-term targets, he did not rule out returning in the future with bigger ambitions in a three-week race: "Who knows, next year we look again to a Grand Tour."