After Saturday's stage, Vingegaard knows Eulalio will not give up pink without a fight

Jonas Vingegaard took a relatively comfortable ride through stage eight of the Giro d'Italia. The Visma | Lease a Bike Dane came through the chaotic day with flying colours and even clawed back a few bonus seconds on his rivals. But he also came face to face with a bold and determined Afonso Eulalio, who is defending his pink jersey with everything he has. Will he still be wearing it on Sunday night?

Eulalio was visible at the front repeatedly during the stage to Fermo. He went with several moves during the race, but was never allowed any room. At the finish he attacked boldly in the closing kilometre — and Vingegaard and Jai Hindley had to dig in to counter. At the line, the pair also managed to take two seconds of bonus time on their rivals, including the Portuguese rider in the pink jersey.

Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike also took on the responsibility of controlling the finale — riding as though the leader of the Giro's blue mountains jersey was already wearing pink. "I don't know if I was racing as the leader of the Giro," he laughed in the flash interview. "I just raced the way we wanted to. We wanted to stay safe. Today wasn't our day to make the difference — there are still plenty of days ahead."

That Eulalio showed such strength did not surprise the Danish star. "He's a strong rider, especially on short climbs like these. He did well, and he gets another day in the pink jersey." Will it stay that way? Will Vingegaard after Sunday be in the pink, the blue mountains jersey, or Visma | Lease a Bike's yellow? "That's a good question. We'll see after tomorrow. Taking the pink jersey will be hard — but we'll see."

Eulalio lost a significant amount of (expected) time to Vingegaard on Blockhaus — but in Fermo, only Egan Bernal finished between him and his closest rival in the GC. He even launched an attack in the closing kilometre. "I had studied the finale carefully," he explained to CyclingPro.net. "I was sitting a little further back first, reading the race — but in the final kilometre I attacked just before the cobblestones. Being at the front there is just a bit easier."

A matter of pure tactics, then. But his legs are clearly in fine shape. Does Eulalio suddenly become a man the GC favourites need to worry about? "No, absolutely not," he laughed. "There are still two weeks to go, and the long, long climbs are yet to come. I simply can't follow those guys."

Sunday brings a tough mountain stage to Corno alle Scale — though it is not quite as hard as Blockhaus, which should suit Eulalio. His lead over Vingegaard stands at 3 minutes 15 seconds, and that appears to be too much for the Dane to claw back in a single day. "I hope so — we'll see."