Jonathan Milan screamed and shouted in celebration as he won stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico, letting out the happiness of beating Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in a sprint, of winning a stage after going close twice this week, and of confirming his talent at the WorldTour level with Lidl-Trek.
Thanks to his placing this week, and a 10-second time bonus for his stage victory, Milan also took the race leader’s blue jersey from Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and pulled on the best young rider’s white jersey along with the cyclamen-coloured points jersey.
“I let out a lot of emotions with my howl,’ Milan explained after his victory. “We’d been looking to win for several days, we’d worked hard but never pulled it off. To finally win was a liberation.
“I must say thanks to my teammates who did an amazing job. It wasn’t an easy day. I had a puncture on the climb and they brought me back.
“This morning I wanted this victory so much after I came third and second in the first two stages. We came here for a result and now we have it.”
Milan is only 23 but is considered Italy’s next great thing as they struggle to find a new generation of riders able to compete at WorldTour level.
Milan is often considered Filippo Ganna’s heir but moved ahead of his master this spring as Ganna tried to catch up after missing a month of winter training due to tonsillitis. Milan is the first Italian to win a WorldTour race so far in 2024 and Italy’s only real hope of success at the rapidly approaching Milan-San Remo.
He’s a superb track pursuiter like Ganna, but is faster and braver in sprints. He has yet to transform his pursuiter speed into major time trial success but he is eager to test himself in the cobbled Classics.
Milan hails from the Buja region of Italy, in the northern Friuli Venezia Giulia region, closer to the border with Slovenia. He was named Milan after his mother read Richard Bach’s famous novel, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”.
“She loved the story and the way seagulls live their lives,” Milan explained last year.
“I have a strong connection to my roots in Friuli and to the people. The Friulian are first of all hard workers, with their feet on the ground. Sometimes they may seem a little aloof but they’re just focused on what they do.”
Lidl-Trek invested in Milan for 2024, signing him from Bahrain Victorious and giving him a three-year deal, convinced he can become a successful sprinter and Classics rider in the years to…
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