After yesterday’s frenetic finale to the opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, there was even much less certainty that stage 2 would end in a bunch gallop. That chance certainly dropped even decrease when Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was dropped with 56km remaining on the second-category Côte du Château de Buron climb.
Nevertheless, the Italian confirmed why he is the very best sprinter at this 12 months’s version of the pre-Tour warm-up race by making it again into the peloton, powering to the stage win after which into the chief’s yellow jersey in a single foul swoop.
The 2-time Giro d’Italia factors classification winner gained by over a motorbike size forward of Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) in the long run, regardless of the remainder of the sector’s greatest makes an attempt to shed the fastman from the pack.
“After yesterday, I used to be actually, actually drained, and right this moment I knew that it could be this climb right here the place they may go full gasoline and attempt to drop me,” he advised the media, together with Cyclingnews, in his post-stage press convention.
He heaped reward onto his teammates for burying themselves in a bid to return him to prime place in time for the dash end.
“Ultimately, I used to be simply on the restrict and my teammates waited for me, introduced me again, and so they bought me till the final 100 metres. I believe it was a brilliant group job,” he added.
Milan spoke earlier than the stage about how the race miles that the Dauphiné brings forward of the Tour de France have been as a lot worth to him as any stage win he would possibly come throughout, with right this moment’s hectic chase additionally proving to have a psychological profit too.
“At the moment can also be so much within the head, seeing that the group was additionally actually believing in all this actually pushed me, actually gave me so much. So this additionally helped me, and never simply that they guided me [back], but additionally to see all of them supporting me mentally.”
Chatting with the press within the yellow jersey, Milan was requested if he hoped to be in an analogous place in the course of the first week of July, with the Tour de France’s opening stage round Lille virtually sure to finish in a dash end.
“We’re right here to construct up a fine condition for the Tour de France, and naturally, this [win] brings motivation for me and for my group.
“[The Tour] is a very huge purpose for us. Within the first stage, we have already got this chance for us sprinters, and we’re getting ready the very best that we will. So for certain, we’ll give 100% in the long run.”
Successful a stage on the Dauphiné will naturally imply extra eyeballs will land on the Italian sprinter when the Tour’s dash levels roll round – and extra events the place groups try and drop him, nonetheless, he would not appear to really feel the strain.
“I am not nervous. I am simply having fun with all this.”
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