'A real struggle' - Jonathan Milan saves frustrating Giro with Rome win

The Italian had started this Giro with high hopes of claiming the first maglia rosa on the opening stage in Burgas, but his fourth-place finish there set the tone for the next three weeks. Milan would place second to Paul Magnier in Sofia two days later and he be held up by a crash in the next bunch finish in Naples on stage 6.

In the third week, Milan did the hard part by surviving the winnowing process on the Muro del Ca’ di Poggio on stage 18, but he had to settle for third place behind Magnier at the finish. That left just one opportunity, the grand finale in Rome.

This time, there would be no mistakes from Milan, who parked himself on Dylan Groenewegen’s wheel in the finale and then overwhelmed the Dutchman with his power. Milan won the stage from Giovanni Lonardi and Paul Penhoët, and he paid tribute to his Lidl-Trek team afterwards.

“Let’s just say it was a real struggle,” Milan told RAI of his Giro. “We always tried to give it our all, and that’s what I liked about the team. We always believed in ourselves, we always supported each other, even when the results weren’t always what we expected.

“That’s proof of how we support each other both on and off the bike, so I have to thank the guys. I have to say it wasn’t easy always being up but missing out on the win one way or another. I’m happy to finish the race this way.”

Milan had won the maglia ciclamino on his two previous Giro appearances, but he suffered disappointment in the Rome sprint on each occasion, placing a distant 14th behind Mark Cavendish in 2023 and losing out to Tim Merlier a year later. 

Although Milan lost out on the points classification to Magnier, he made no mistake in Rome. He credited the Giro’s passage through his native Friuli on Saturday for lifting his morale after a frustrating three weeks.

“I like these finishes and I like winning even more in this beautiful city,” Milan said. “I also have to say that my Friuli gave me a nice, nice boost yesterday, a lot of motivation. I want to thank everyone, all the people who were along the route cheering for me and for us. Yesterday was special – and so was today. It was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.”

Milan won the green jersey and two stages on his Tour de France debut last year, but he won’t be on the start line in Barcelona on July 4, with Mads Pedersen earning the nod as Lidl-Trek’s designated sprinter this time out.

He acknowledged, however, that the Rome victory was a timely boost at the end of a difficult Giro.

“I think it’s important in terms of the victory itself, but mentally it wasn’t easy to be always there and yet not manage to get anything,” Milan said. “The work of the team has been so important, and I really owed them this win.”