Good or bad final result, Afonso Eulálio has already learned a lot from his Giro

He is still in second place in the general classification, although it remains to be seen whether Afonso Eulálio can maintain his strong overall position in the third and final week of the Giro d'Italia. The Portuguese revelation, however, is primarily focused on the bigger picture in an interview with Cycling Pro Net.

"We will definitely keep fighting for a good overall result," he said before the start of the sixteenth stage. "When you get opportunities like this - after all, I am currently second - you have to seize them with both hands. I'm going to fight for it and I also want to learn a lot from this for the coming years. So it’s not just about battling for the classification, but also about the learning process."

But what has the Bahrain Victorious rider already learned in this Giro? "Mostly how to manage my races. Normally, I never really think about conserving energy. I just race, expend a lot of energy, and ride in support of my teammates."

"But now, even with something as simple as a bathroom break, I try to save as much energy as possible. Normally, I would stop whenever I wanted and then have to make a big effort to get back to the group. That way, you waste a lot of energy unnecessarily. Now we’re really trying to ride as efficiently as possible."

"Today’s stage honestly scares me a bit"
Eulálio can make good use of the energy he has saved up in the grueling final week. "Honestly, today's stage does scare me a bit. It’s a short stage, but the finale is incredibly tough. Stages 19 and 20 will also be very challenging, but I think I’ll be in good shape for those days. Especially the penultimate stage promises to be very hard, but today I will definitely have to fight hard again first."