Milan does the hard part but still loses out in Giro sprint: 'It was a bit my fault'

The late climb meant that many believed this stage would prove beyond the range of the fast men, but Milan set out his intentions by sitting at the front of the bunch at the foot of the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio.

Although Milan was in the second group when the bunch split over the top, he was among those to fight their way back on to dispute the mass sprint in Pieve di Soligo. In the final reckoning, however, Milan had to settle for third place as Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) scorched to his third stage win of this Giro.

Milan had looked well placed in the final kilometre, but he lost a hold of Magnier’s wheel on the final corner, with Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) nudging in ahead of him. Zambanini would take second on the stage, while Milan was left with too much ground to make up in the closing metres.

“It was not an easy day,” Milan told Eurosport of a stage that had seen his Lidl-Trek squad work to keep their sprinter in the hunt for victory.

“I mean, it was possible that a big break could go, it was not a 100% a bunch sprint, you know, but we tried to control it from the beginning. The guys, they did an amazing job and I have to say sorry to them that I didn’t achieve the result that we were looking for in the end after a big effort like today.”

Milan placed the blame on his own positioning in the fraught final kilometre. “I think we did our best and I think it was a bit my fault to take this last corner the fourth wheel,” he said. “I should stay behind Magnier.”

The Italian will have one more opportunity to get off the mark at this Giro on Sunday’s final stage to Rome, where he will also seek to maintain his proud record of winning a stage in each of his Grand Tour appearances.

Milan won stages and the maglia ciclamino in his two previous Giro appearances in 2023 and 2024, and he also won two stages and the green jersey on his Tour de France debut last year.

He had hoped to claim the first maglia rosa of this year’s Giro, but he lost his lead-out train in the finale of the opening stage in Burgas, where he placed fourth. He was beaten into second by Magnier in Sofia two days later, and he was held up by a crash in the bunch finish in Naples on stage 6.

“I like today’s stage and the team did a fantastic job all day,” Milan told RAI television. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t put the icing on the cake in the end. I made a bit of a mistake with the positioning on the last corner. I should have stayed on Magnier’s wheel, but that’s how it went.”