"I was in the perfect position" - From the wheel of Pogacar, Jonathan Milan soars to powerful sprint win in UAE
Cycling
Lidl-Trek are on a roll and this Monday they have net another big win. Jonathan Milan has been in stupendous form and after winning in the final day of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, he has also won the first stage of the UAE Tour.
"I'm incredibly tired. The heat, the temperature and the last 700 meters were very difficult, more than I thought. It was an intense day," Milan started off in flash interview. "It was a bit quiet at first, but there were some echelons. In the end, everyone came back together. I have to thank my boys, because they kept everything under control. They supported me so well and guided me to the end. I'm very happy with that".
A day for the sprinters, but the few ups and downs before the ascent to the Liwa castle saw UAE push the pace and drop among others Olav Kooij. Tim Merlier was also absent from the sprint, and in a chaotic final kilometer, it was actually Bardiani who led out the sprint, before Tadej Pogacar launched his sprint first.
"We didn't want to be too far in the last kilometer, but also not too far in front. In the end I was in the perfect position to finish the last 200 meters in the best way". Milan followed the World Champion's wheel and then launched his own big to the line, in an uphill gradient that provided for a dramatic finale.
He had just enough speed to beat a Jasper Philipsen, who was however later relegated due to another dangerous move mid-sprint. The Italian hence won his second stage of the season and puts on the leader's jersey, which he will be defending tomorrow in an individual time-trial. "I am very tired now, but tomorrow I will try to defend the leader's jersey. But first I will have to rest a bit," he concluded.
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Pogacar tried to anticipate the sprinters, too early, too Easy. Then goes Milan, Philipsen almost coming back but Milan holding and winning.
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) February 17, 2025
Best sprinter in the world at the moment?#UAETour
pic.twitter.com/gS0Hq7L6hz
He was world champion in Team Pursuit (track cycling), I think he could do very well a flat, short TT stage (12kms, cycling road). We'll see...
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- That made me smile Suipedali. Nice one!Cyclingsbestfan14-03-2025
- Even if Pogi has 5s on top of Poggio, he's getting caught on descent unfortunately. And it's extremely unlikely that he will have morevappaxbipmv14-03-2025
- If Pogi can drop him, then he will winabstractengineer14-03-2025
- In that sense, those two have less in common than the link you could make between demonstrators, right handers, Hinault and Merckx.Mistermaumau14-03-2025
- "He apparently thought it was completely fine." Nothing broken and no concussion, that's as completely fine as it gets in cyclingvappaxbipmv14-03-2025
- Better safe than sorry. At least his injuries are a lot less severe than they were last year.
santiagobenites14-03-2025 - Well spotted :-)Mistermaumau14-03-2025
- One thing Jonas Vingegaard has in common with Hinault is that they are moaners, although I couldn't see Jonas giving a demonstrator a right hander!Suipedali14-03-2025
- They are surprisingly rare on the pro circuit, around our area, one in four races finishes of with a really steep 500m climb at the end.Mistermaumau14-03-2025
- Give him an uphill sprint, then he may win against pure sprinters.
KerisVroom14-03-2025