'Pogacar can play it any way he wants' - Milan's tough battle to defend green
The Italian sprinter faces competition in his fight for green, but not from the 'traditional' suspects.
Jonathan Milan's (Lidl-Trek) hold on the green jersey at the Tour de France looks increasingly fragile with a final week that is suited to the climbers, and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is lurking not too far behind.
On the second rest day, Milan leads the points classification with 251 points, courtesy of his strong showing so far at the Tour, which included victory in the uphill drag on stage 8 to Laval. However, due to the supremacy of Pogačar, the Slovenian is currently Milan's closest rival, 28 points behind the Italian and with a summit finish on Mont Ventoux and the Alps to come, could by default claim the green jersey if he continues to dominate the race as he has done so far.
"It's going to be very difficult to fight for the green jersey," admitted Lidl-Trek Directeur Sportif, Steven de Jongh, told Bici.pro. "Because Pogačar can play it any way he wants."
"The points classification is one of the goals we set ourselves coming into the Tour, along with winning stages. One came, two slipped away. We'll fight for the intermediate sprints, but we won't change our racing style. So we'll do our best in the remaining stages and try to win at least one more," De Jongh added.
Jonathan Milan also reflected on the battle for the breakaway on stage 15, and his determination to be at the front of the race for the intermediate sprint in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, knowing the significance towards the battle for green.
"The stage started with great ambition," he says, "and I think after so many attacks, I felt like myself, I was doing well," Milan explained.
"I started the day and raced with the expectation of scoring as many points as possible. I think I gritted my teeth to get into the first attacks; I really wanted to be out front and win the intermediate sprint," added Milan.
However, the fight for the breakaway was relentless, and despite his best efforts, Milan was unable to make the front group, whilst Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) did, claiming maximum points and increasing the pressure on Milan's lead in green. The Dutchman also remains in contention for green, 41 points behind Milan, and has proven his ability so far in this Tour to feature in the breakaways and pick up intermediate sprint points.
"But when I made my final attempt, knowing it would be difficult, I wasn't able to perform as expected," said Milan. "I think the temperature also affected my performance today."
"I'm a little disappointed, but Mathieu is who he is. It will be very difficult, because we're close and some really tough days await us. It would be a truly bittersweet ending to fight hard and give my all to defend this jersey and then have to regret not having made it."
Pogačar has four stage wins to his name already, and with plenty more stages that could feasibly be won by the World Champion compared to the slimmer opportunities for the fast men like Milan, the race for green may be out of Milan's hands to decide, as De Jongh suggested.
Stage 17 will be an important stage for Milan and Lidl-Trek to capitalise on. It's a stage that features two fourth-category climbs in 160.4km from Bollène to Valence, with the final summit over 40 kilometres from the finish. At the start of the Tour, this would be destined for a sprint finish, and whilst it could well be the case here in the third week, Lidl-Trek and Milan will be wary of keeping control on the stage.
At this point in the race, teams are depleted in their resources, with fatigue setting in, meaning that there will be fewer riders to control the breakaway compared to the opening week of the race. Kasper Asgreen's victory on stage 18 in 2023, from a strong breakaway group, is a perfect recent illustration that a stage like this will not be as straightforward for Lidl-Trek as it looks on paper, but it is certainly one that they must capitalise on if Milan is to win green.
Equally, another obstacle for Milan is the addition of the Montmarte circuit for the traditional sprint stage in Paris, with three ascents of the climb that was used in the Olympic Games and the final summit, only 6 kilometres from the finish.
It remains to be seen if the addition of the climb will impact the sprinters on a day that is usually dubbed the unofficial 'sprinters world championships', or maybe even see an attack from someone like Van der Poel, if green is still within sight.
Either way, it makes Milan's defence of green that extra bit more difficult, but it will taste even sweeter for the Italian if he can defend the jersey in Paris.
