After an 113 stage drought, an Italian rider once again tastes victory at the Tour de France. Jonathan Milan, who has made a name as one of the fastest sprinters in the world since he joined Lidl-Trek 18 months ago, took the spoils ahead of Wout van Aert in a tricky bunch sprint in Laval.
At the Tour, nothing comes easily. After the bitter disappointment of missing the chance to sprint for the win and Yellow Jersey on the opening stage, Milan remained undetered. If anything, hungrier for the victory with the disappointment. The third stage saw him edged out by Merlier by a tire-width, but Lidl-Trek, its riders, and above all, Milan himself, remained steadfast in their belief that a Tour de France stage win would come.
A pan-flat parcours presented as much of a nailed-on sprint stage as possible. The intermediate sprint – this time with all 20 points up for grabs – gave a taste of what was to come: Jonny taking the spoils. The remainder of the stage proved uneventful until the sprint trains geared up for the charge to the line. The breakaway was absorbed with 10km remaining, leaving the sprinters to jostle for position. The chaotic run-in to the finish of Stage 8 meant the normally-regimented lead-out trains were more jumbled than normal, but nevertheless Lidl-Trek managed to position Milan at the head of affairs. First, a big effort by Jasper Stuyven to take Jonny from mid-pack to the front, before Simone Consonni, and Stuyven again gave their last watts to set Milan on the path to victory. The Italian still just had to do the himself before he could launch the sprint, and he picked the wheel of Mathieu van der Poel to pull him towards the line. From there, Milan hit the gas, his trademark sprint style front and center, and no-one could even attempt to come around him.
Jonathan Milan: “Yeah, you know, I think I didn’t still understand what we did. To come with some expectations and some dreams to bring home. Then, you know, to [achieve] them and to bring them home is, they’re two different things, but I was confident with the team and we were really close in the last stage. I mean, not in the first one, but in the third one, we were pretty close to the victory. We know that we just went a bit too early, but today, we were really focused. We were really believing in it. My guys did an amazing job until the final. It was a really tough final, I have to say, a bit stressful, but I was not expecting that it was dragging up so much the last kilometer, kilometer and a half. I knew that I had to wait as long as I could, but yeah, I like this kind of finals. I was really, really happy for the work that we did. We really deserve it.
“The third stage we were there, it was just a little movement that let me lose the stage. But, I knew that with this team, with their experience, how they know how to guide me, how to bring me in the best position, that we could have soon a good result, so this morning we really all started super motivated for this stage.
“It was really, I have to say, a tough final to stay all together. But, you know, all in all, my teammates, they worked really well. This formula during the race and in the last few minutes was always this kind of, let’s call it, washing machine. My teammates, they really guided me in a perfect way. They really gave the best of themselves to guide me. And, yeah, I just had to sprint and I really have to say thanks to them for this.”
Stage 8
- Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) 3h50’26”
- Wout Van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +00”
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +00”
GC
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 29h48’30”
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) +0’54”
- Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +1’11”
